Liam Lawson: Red Bull has set himself to replace the New Zealand with Yuki Tsunoda for the Japanese Grand Prix
His average qualification deficit to teammate Max Verstappen was 0.88 seconds. Verstappen came second in Australia, third in the sprint in Shanghai and fourth in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Lawson will return to the second team of Red Bull, Racing Bulls, together with the French rookie Isack Hadjar.
The Japanese driver Tsunoda was asked the Chinese Grand Prix if he would have accepted the promotion to Red Bull if he had been offered.
He said: “Yes, why not? Always. In Japan? Yes, 100%. I want to say, the car is faster.”
When the scenario was put to Lawson, he replied: “I ran for years, I ran it in junior categories and beat it – and I also did it in F1, so it can say what she wants”.
Lawson was promoted to Red Bull this season following the team’s decision to repay Sergio Perez, despite the fact that the Mexican was two remaining on his contract.
That decision was made after a difficult 2024 for Perez, who could not end up on the podium after the fifth race of the season.
Perez’s performances contributed to the team that ended third in the manufacturers’ championship last year, behind McLaren and Ferrari.
Since the collapse of Perez in 2024 had reflected a similar performance model in 2023, Red Bull decided that the weather had come to get rid of him.
They had the choice between Lawson and Tsunoda as a replacement and chose the New Zealand, despite having completed only 11 great prix divided into two seasons – while Tsunoda ran for the company since 2021.
