Liam Lawson has suffered a brutal "firing" in the F1 arena, and his successor will need to overcome an unstable car and a dysfunctional team, or they may face a similar fate. Red Bull officially announced on Thursday that New Zealand driver Lawson was being replaced after only participating in two races, despite being promoted to the team in the off-season and being a young driver with only 11 Grand Prix starts.
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03-31, 2025For Lawson, the dream job of driving for a team eager to compete for the world championship has turned into a complete nightmare. He failed to score points in two Grand Prix and the sprint race in China. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner justified replacing Lawson with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, saying the move was out of a "duty of care."
However, this Red Bull driver change is not an indictment of Lawson, but a clear failure of the team itself. Yuki Tsunoda is stepping into this predicament and must overcome it to escape the "curse" of being Max Verstappen's teammate. When Yuki Tsunoda starts in front of his home crowd at the Suzuka circuit in Japan next week, he will be Verstappen's fifth different teammate since 2019, and more worryingly, he will be the fourth driver from the Red Bull junior team.
Red Bull is unique in the F1 world in that it controls two teams. In theory, the Racing Bulls team (formerly RB, AlphaTauri and Torro Rosso) should serve as a stepping stone for drivers in the Red Bull program to enter F1 and gradually advance to the Red Bull team. This is an advantage that other F1 teams do not have, but it seems to fail time and time again. At least that's the plan. While Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, and Daniel Ricciardo have all successfully moved from the junior team to the main team, for most, it was the beginning of their decline.
Pierre Gasly was fired after just 12 races in 2019, after being promoted from the junior team. The Frenchman was replaced by Alex Albon, who was also dumped by Red Bull after 26 races. These problems can be traced back even further, with Daniil Kvyat being fired early in his second season, replaced by Verstappen, who rubbed salt in the wound by winning his first race for the top team. Lawson is just the latest driver to be "chewed up and spat out," and there is evidence that Yuki Tsunoda may face a similar predicament.
This suggests that there are problems within Red Bull, which is surprising given that Verstappen has won the past four drivers' championships. However, as rotating teammates are defeated by the Dutch ace, it begins to feel as though Verstappen's legendary talent is masking the team's fundamental flaws. The Red Bull car has behaved as if it has a mind of its own since the 2023 season. After 10 races, Red Bull seemed to be easily winning another team championship, but the wheels seem to have come off, with the team ranked third, behind McLaren and Ferrari. At one point, Verstappen's driver's title seemed threatened, although two brilliant drives in Brazil and Qatar ensured that at least the driver's title would remain with Red Bull.
This year's Red Bull RB21 has difficulties that need to be addressed. The chaotic nature of the Red Bull car was on full display at the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, with Verstappen far behind at the start of the race, before his car came to life, at times the fastest on the track. However, with rule changes next season, the team will increasingly focus on the 2026 challenger. The instability of the car will be an obstacle for Verstappen to overcome to win races, but for Yuki Tsunoda, like Lawson, it could be an obstacle to staying with the team.
Yuki Tsunoda was clearly Red Bull's second choice, after the team paid Mexican driver Sergio Perez a large sum of money to release him from his contract at the end of 2024. The Japanese driver has four years of experience in the junior team, but Red Bull chose the New Zealand driver with only two seasons and 11 races of experience. Although Yuki Tsunoda has performed well at the start of this season - but has been frustrated by the team's poor strategy in both Grand Prix - promotion to the Red Bull main team feels like trying to climb Mount Everest without food or water. Unlike Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda does not have the advantage of a full pre-season with the team. He has been preparing to drive a second-tier car, which, while slower, seems easier to drive.
The RB21 has the raw performance to compete for the championship, but it is not smooth to drive. Perhaps only Verstappen can successfully drive the RB21 "monster." But what happens if Yuki Tsunoda doesn't get up to speed quickly? Red Bull needs to consider this situation, as history suggests it is a real possibility. Other top teams have allowed young drivers to flourish. McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are both going full speed, while teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli has performed well in his first two races for Mercedes. Oliver Bearman, now with Haas, scored points when he temporarily replaced Ferrari last season, while Alpine reserve driver Franco Colapinto earned two top-ten finishes when he was called up to Williams from F2 in mid-2024.
However, Red Bull is not a happy hunting ground for most young drivers, a problem that Red Bull needs to address urgently, or they may fall behind their rivals as they enter the new era of F1 rules.
