Red Bull Formula 1 replaces Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull removed Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate after just two rounds of the season and replaced him with Yuki Tsunoda on Thursday.

Lawson was given the Red Bull seat despite not having raced a full F1 season before and struggled right away. The New Zealander did not score any points, crashed out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and qualified last for the Chinese Grand Prix and its sprint race.

Tsunoda moves up from Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls, just in time for his home Japanese Grand Prix next week. Lawson will replace Tsunoda at Racing Bulls, joining rookie Isack Hadjar.

The change shows how tough F1 can be and admits that Red Bull made a mistake in picking Lawson. He had only completed 11 F1 races before this season and was usually slower than Tsunoda across their six races together last year.

“It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the (car) at the first two races and as a result we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said in a statement.

“We came into the 2025 season with two ambitions, to retain the world drivers’ championship and to reclaim the world constructors’ title, and this is a purely sporting decision.”

Horner recognized that there was work to be done with the team’s RB21 car and said Tsunoda’s experience would help in developing it.

“We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and, together, we see that after such a difficult start it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience, as he continues his F1 career with Racing Bulls, an environment and a team he knows very well,” Horner said.

Replacing Lawson so quickly is a big difference compared to the patience shown with Verstappen’s former teammate Sergio Perez, who was given a two-year contract extension halfway through a disappointing 2024 season. Perez was eventually replaced by Lawson in December after four years with the team.

Lawson publicly discussed his problems with the RB21 car, saying on Sunday that it was “tricky” to drive and had a “very small window” for the setup to be competitive. This was similar to comments from Perez last year, saying the car became harder to handle as Red Bull’s development focused more on Verstappen’s driving style.

The 24-year-old Tsunoda has been in F1 since 2021, finishing 12th in the championship last year, which was his best result, and he has yet to reach the podium. He has been criticized within Red Bull for often expressing his frustration over the radio during races.

Tsunoda’s future is complicated by his backing from Honda, which will no longer be Red Bull’s engine supplier after this year. Honda will supply Aston Martin starting next season, and Red Bull will partner with Ford in 2026.

Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies said he was “incredibly proud” of Tsunoda for joining Red Bull. “His progress last year, and more recently from the very start of 2025, has been nothing less than sensational,” he said.

Tsunoda becomes Verstappen’s sixth teammate in 10 seasons with Red Bull. This is the first time the main Red Bull team has switched drivers midseason since 2019, when Pierre Gasly was replaced by Alex Albon after 12 races.

Verstappen has been the only Red Bull driver to win a race in almost two years and the only one to be on the podium in nearly a year. He has scored all of the team’s points in the four races since Perez finished 10th in Las Vegas last November.