🏎️ A Surprising Move Early in the 2025 Season
Red Bull shocked the Formula 1 world early in the 2025 season by demoting Liam Lawson after just two grands prix, sending him back to the sister team Racing Bulls and promoting Yuki Tsunoda to race alongside Max Verstappen. The Kiwi driver had been given the Red Bull seat at the start of the year after strong form at Racing Bulls — but a difficult opening pair of races in Australia and China left the team wanting a change.
Lawson’s opening results included a Q1 exit and a crash in Melbourne on debut, followed by a last‑place sprint and grand prix in Shanghai — performances Red Bull deemed too weak for their championship aspirations.
🤔 Verstappen: “Two Races Is Too Early”
Despite Red Bull’s reasoning, Max Verstappen made it clear he didn’t agree with the decision. Speaking to Viaplay, the multiple‑champion said that making such a call after just two races risked “ruining someone’s chance” at a top team — especially for a young driver.
“Two races as a team‑mate, I didn’t agree with that at the time,” Verstappen said.
“Because ultimately, someone is giving up their chance… yes, then you’re ruining [that chance] at a top team.”
He also praised Lawson’s response to the setback, noting the mental strength needed to return to Racing Bulls and keep pushing after such an early career blow.
📉 A Second Seat That’s Been Hard to Fill
Verstappen’s unease about the early driver swap feeds into a broader pattern at Red Bull: the team has struggled to find a consistent and competitive number two since Daniel Ricciardo departed in 2018. Drivers such as Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Lawson, and Tsunoda have all found it difficult to match Verstappen’s pace — contributing in part to Red Bull missing out on the Constructors’ Championship in 2021, 2024, and again slipping to third in 2025 behind McLaren and Mercedes.
Verstappen himself has suggested that Red Bull’s approach to having a clear number one and number two makes sense — as long as that number two still scores plenty of points.
“If I were the team boss myself, I would always put a clear number one and two in place — but a number two who still scores enough points to compete for the Constructors’ title.”
🔄 Red Bull’s Logic — and Its Flaws
From Red Bull’s perspective, the driver swap was about team performance and strategy: given the slow start from Lawson and the desire to maximize team points for both championships, they opted for the more experienced Tsunoda. However, Tsunoda’s results weren’t markedly better — finishing the season with just 30 points and 17th in the standings — illustrating that the underlying problem wasn’t necessarily the driver but the challenge of fitting different driving styles to the RB21 car.
🔮 Looking Ahead: Hadjar, Regulation Reset & 2026
Verstappen did say he’s hopeful the 2026 season will bring a better situation alongside a new team‑mate. Isack Hadjar, who had a strong rookie year for Racing Bulls and on occasion matched Verstappen in pace and composure, is expected to step into a Red Bull seat under the new regulations. Verstappen sees the new car and rule changes as the right time to reset and potentially improve the balance in the garage.
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