I know Red Bull is cutthroat with these kind of situations but I feel itโs too soon and just downright traumatic for Lawson. That said, very stoked to see Yuki finally in the Red Bull and starting at the Japanese GP. Really curious how this will play out.
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2025
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I'm quietly glad he's been demoted (I'm a kiwi and a Lawson fan) so I see this as a positive if it means he's driving a car that's not a complete turd. It might take some pressure off and let him focus on racing rather than just trying to keep the damn thing pointed in the right direction.
Yes! Yuki deserves a shot after all these years, I just hope he can do something with that car and doesn't meet the same fate.
Another kiwi Lawson fan here, and totally agree with you. Though, Iโm quietly hoping Yuki struggles in the car as well in the hopes that itโll reduce some of the online hate Lawson has been getting.
Goodbye Lawson and soon goodbye Tsunoda
If it's being reported by Erik van Haren then it's probably legit.
The seat should've been Tsunoda's from the beginning if they can't bother giving Lawson a third race. Giving him just 2 to prove himself is immature.
If Tsunoda underperforms, who next? Hadjar? How long will this game of musical chairs go?
I understand F1 is extremely competitive, but the drivers need to be given time and support. Why spend years developing them in your driver program and signing them up to race if you're going to dump them at any moment?
In Sargeant's case, he was at least given half a season before being replaced last year.
The drivers that seem to have a good support system - Antonelli and Bearman - are currently faring better than Lawson and Doohan who are under heaps of pressure.
This farcical Red Bull dance all started with DeVries. They should never have gone for him, and Lawson should have gotten that whole season from the start. They also should have ignored the whole Daniel Ricciardo Redemption Project. Had they done things properly they'd have plenty of clear data by the end of last season of which of Yuki and Lawson is better and consequently deserves to replace Checo.
The drivers that seem to have a good support system - Antonelli and Bearman - are currently faring better than Lawson and Doohan who are under heaps of pressure.
They're also just more highly rated. I'm not saying Lawson is the new Mazepin, but neither he nor Doohan had particularly impressive junior careers.
I get what you're saying but Lawson was immediate box office in f2 and then (almost) won super formula and DTM. Doohan had his moments. He wasn't bad.
Tbf Sergeant's junior career was impressive, maybe less so I'm f2. de Vries was worse overall IMHO.
Mazepin was pure shit in f2 and pure shit in f1 because you cannot polish a turd.
Neither him nor Doohan were bad, but I wouldn't say either of them were impressive to the extent that would buy them massive leeway either. They would have never gone for DeVries in the first place if they actually believed in Lawson like they do in someone like Lindblad.
Lawson's results from Super Formula and DTM are more impressive than junior formula I think, though I don't know what the field is like there.
I'm still sad about the way it panned out for Sargeant to be honest.
As a kiwi and someone who wants to see Liam do well. It totally should have been Yuki's.
Helmet has a racism problem to go with the car problems.
I'm on a flight to Japan now and will be cheering both of them on in a few days.
Ah so cool! Enjoy suzuka and Japan, super jealous
Could've saved themselves, Yuki, and Liam a lot of stress if they just gave Liam a year at the junior team right away and put Yuki in that car from the start. I'm curious whether that car is actually that much of a shitbox or whether it just doesn't specifically doesn't fit Liam. I guess Yuki will show us. I hope both Liam and Yuki will benefit from this move
If this is true Perez has to be having a good laugh.
They promoted Liam after 11 races in the junior team - the lowest number ever for a driver to be promoted into the senior team (Albon did 12 races before being promoted). And now they're pulling the plug on him after the fewest races in the senior team.
Classic Red Bull, they're getting more and more desperate. I hope for Yuki's sake he finds a little more speed in the RBR and is helpful to them to develop the car. I don't think anyone new to the team is going to save their WCC hopes.
What an attractive destination for young drivers with Marko, and this ridiculous nonsense!
Marko got a hard on for Lawson because he was on Marko's approved nationality list and overestimated his capability. Their arrogance blinded them to how shitty their car is and how difficult it is for an inexperienced driver to handle. They shit the bed and are lying it, it's too bad they pulled Lawson into their slurry pit.
Liam Lawson is definitively sidelined by Red Bull Racing after just two races. From the Japanese Grand Prix onwards, Yuki Tsunoda is Max Verstappen's new teammate.
I wouldn't say "definitively". Yuki could still get swapped back out, or with Hadjar even. Hell, they've already asked FIA for special exception for Lindblad to race before he's 18. This is just an A-B test to see if the problem is Liam, the car or both. If Yuki struggles too they'll know it's a car problem. If Liam still struggles in the VCARB they'll know it's a Liam problem.
Thing is, they know itโs a car problem.
The car isnโt built for Max, but Max is a good enough driver to wrestle it. Albon has said itโs like using a computer with the mouse speed all the way up (referring to steering) and it makes you tense; overdo it even slightly and it gets away from you.
This ainโt a Lawson problem. Red Bull is just rolling the dice hoping to find someone else why can handle a car as twitchy as theirs; and they are flailing.
Yeah they have a lot of experience with drivers who arenโt confident in that car. Leaving them in that seat wonโt improve the situation. Weโve seen it with Albon, Gasly and Perez. Might as well give Yuki a chance now Lawsonโs confidence in the car is at rock bottom.
Too brutal. They must be desperate to replace the driver they've built for years after 2 races with a driver they barely let test the Red Bull.
If Yuuki has the right style or something else of substance, why wait until he's done 100 races to promote him?
Well. At least RB juniors can do well outside RB.
I want to see Max in the VCARB and see how he does.
Itโll be amusing if Lawson does better in the Racing Bulls car than he did in the RB. Or if he does better in the Racing Bulls car than Tsunoda does in the Red Bull.
I donโt think itโs impossible that Perez was not slipping - the problem is instead that Red Bull actually has bad (or idiosyncratic) cars, and Verstappen is just so good he can still win in them.
Itโll be amusing if Lawson does better in the Racing Bulls car than he did in the RB. Or if he does better in the Racing Bulls car than Tsunoda does in the Red Bull.
I think both of these will end up being true. I hope Tsunoda does well because I want him to succeed, but I think he'll struggle. We know Liam can drive, he proved that last season, so I don't doubt he'll be about on par with Hadjar.
Agree on the Perez & RBR development. It makes me wonder if Max is actually terrible at giving feedback about the car for development and just drives around issues, and the team are only really taking his feedback on board.
Given that Max has talked about the differences between the RBR and the VCARB in interviews, I wonder whether he has tested the VCARB recently.
That would be illegal, no?
The older cars he can test without restrictions. On simulator there are no restrictions either I believe. For the current car, they would need to use an official filming/testing day from their budget
That would be true for -for instance- Lawson, to get to know his new team. Since RBR and VCARB are supposed to be separate teams, this kind of testing would definitely be illegal!
The only way VER would be able to test any VCARB would be to transfer him there, but that's not going to happen.
I don't think so. Some drivers do testing work for multiple teams, like in the last couple of years Bearman did for Ferrari & Haas, Giovannazzi did for Ferrari & Alfa Romeo,, or Lawson did for RBR & RB, etc.
If say Alpine offered Hamilton a test drive, I think nothing in the regulations would hinder him from accepting that offer. In reality Alpine wouldn't do that however.
Hmm, maybe you're right, I was thinking along the lines of data-sharing being illegal between rival teams, but drivers testing for different teams may actually be allowed. In this case of RBR and VCARB, it just feels very fishy to me.
Thanks for pointing this out.
They knew the driver, they knew their car, and still they signed him. If this is true, they outclowned Ferrari.
To be fair to Ferrari most of their blunders are strategy related, driver wise Barrichello was their worst pick in the last 25 years.
This is what you get when you do not want two number one drivers but want someone to pay second fiddle to Max as you are too scared to manage two competitive drivers.
They kept Carlos hanging around for months last summer on the off chance that Max would leave when they could have just signed Carlos and had two experienced quality drivers for this year.
Now I am very curious as to how Yuki will do in the Red Bull as it seems to be a complete nightmare to drive. If they do not sort out their car then Max is going to struggle as the season progresses.
I hope Yuki somehow nails it right off the bat and proves to those clowns that they should have done this in the first place.
That being said I think we all know he's probably going to struggle badly and Liam will probably finish the Japan GP ahead of Yuki.
It's hard to be a Redbull fan when almost everything they have done lately has been bafflingly stupid.
Now you know how the Ferrari fans have been feeling for the last twenty years!
Dependsโฆ if youโre a Ferrari fan too.
I hate Ferrari but I like both their drivers...
What happens if Yuki also fails,๐ redbull is such a clownshow
Another driver destroyed by that seat.
They're reporting like it's a done deal. 2 races, that's insane even for RBR.
I don't think Lawson is gonna get that much of a handle on the car but damn man
Telegraaf is usally very well informed on F1
RBR is shit show. When it comes to the 2nd driver.
They could save some money and just stop running that second car.
Unfortunately for them, the Concorde Agreement forces them to run two cars lol
Just retire it before the race for unspecified technical issues.