Liam Lawson’s slow start to the 2025 Formula 1 season has cost him his seat at Red Bull.
According to multiple reports, Red Bull has made a driver switch just two race weekends into the season, with Yuki Tsunoda moving to Red Bull ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. Lawson will take Tsunoda’s spot at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
Both Canal+ F1 and Erik van Haren at De Telegraaf are reporting that the team has made the decision, with an official announcement coming later this week. SB Nation has not independently confirmed these reports.
Lawson earned the spot alongside Max Verstappen last winter, when the team decided to part ways with Sergio Pérez after a lackluster 2024 campaign. Despite starting the season hot Pérez scored just 49 points after the first six race weekends, and Red Bull tumbled to third in the Constructors’ Championship.
Lawson has yet to advance out of Q1 at either the Australian Grand Prix or the Chinese Grand Prix, and qualified in P20 for both the F1 Sprint race and the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. Following his difficult weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix, speculation grew that Red Bull would make such a move.
While Team Principal Christian Horner brushed aside those rumblings as paddock speculation, it seems that now that speculation has come true.
