ANALYSIS: Why Red Bull decided swift action was needed as Yuki Tsunoda is promoted in place of Liam Lawson

Red Bull decided to take swift action after Liam Lawson’s difficult start to the 2025 campaign, demoting him to Racing Bulls and promoting Yuki Tsunoda to the senior team alongside reigning world champion Max Verstappen. F1 Correspondent Lawrence Barretto explains why…

Sergio Perez had endured a painful campaign that saw him finish a distant eighth in the Drivers’ Championship for Red Bull last season – while team mate Verstappen won a fourth successive title – and after sticking by him all season, the team opted to end his deal early after Abu Dhabi finale.

They then had the choice of promoting either Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson from sister team Racing Bulls.

Lawson’s impressive test in a Red Bull, along with a strong showing when he replaced Daniel Ricciardo for the final part of last season, was enough to convince Red Bull that he deserved a promotion to replace Perez.

Liam Lawson replaced by Yuki Tsunoda

The New Zealander had a low-key pre-season test in Bahrain – and then endured a miserable debut weekend in Australia, qualifying 18th and then crashing in the race. Sources say one senior member of the team raised the prospect of demoting him after that weekend.

Then in China, he became the first Red Bull driver in their 20-year history to qualify last, when he ended up 20th in Sprint Qualifying and he did so again for the Grand Prix. While he was classified 12th – helped in part by three disqualifications – Red Bull called an internal meeting for after the race weekend to discuss his future.

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Sources say the shareholders, plus Team Principal Christian Horner and Red Bull Motorsport Adviser Helmut Marko, agreed unanimously that Lawson should go back to Racing Bulls with immediate effect, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, with Tsunoda stepping up to replace him.

This was after they had looked at Lawson’s data from testing and the opening two races and concluded that he wasn’t performing to a high enough level, even if they conceded that it was a very difficult car to drive.

It's believed the team accepted that Lawson had also lost his confidence after conceding he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t able to get pace out of the car.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 22: Twentieth placed qualifier Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Oracle Red — Lawson drops back to Racing Bulls after two difficult race weekends with Red Bull

It's the shortest stint for a Red Bull driver in history – and only two races fewer than Daniil Kvyat got in 2016, although the Russian did get a full campaign with the energy drinks firm’s main team the previous year.

Sources say Red Bull were also mindful of not making the same mistake twice and sticking with an underperforming driver for too long.

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As they are in the fortunate position of having four seats, it’s easy enough for them to move Lawson back to Racing Bulls, where he was previously impressive, to rebuild his confidence, and give Tsunoda a shot after the Japanese racer’s very strong start to the 2025 campaign.

Pierre Gasly is proof that being demoted doesn’t have to ruin your career – the Frenchman went on to score his first podium in F1 eight races after returning to Toro Rosso and followed that up with his first win a year later at Monza. Alex Albon, meanwhile, was demoted to Red Bull reserve but has rebuilt himself at Williams.

Formula 1 header templates - 2025-03-27T091342.281.png — Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon are two racers who rebuilt themselves after being demoted by Red Bull

All is not lost for Lawson, then. It is understood that Red Bull would consider promoting him again in the future, should he prove himself at the sister team.

The Milton Keynes-based squad however have never promoted a driver they have demoted previously, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t. Sources say they attempted to get Albon back for this season as a replacement for Perez but were unsuccessful.

For Tsunoda, it’s the chance he’s been craving, and one many felt he should have got already.

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The Japanese driver was hurt after Red Bull overlooked him for this year in favour of Lawson as he had just delivered his strongest season to date. But he came back stronger this year, qualifying fifth in the opener and eighth in China, leading many in Red Bull to take notice.

The 24-year-old is up against it getting parachuted in midseason with no opportunity to drive this year’s very tricky RB21. But he has nearly 100 Grand Prix starts under his belt and the momentum of a strong start to the campaign. He also performed strongly at the first two tracks he’ll race on, having scored a point at Suzuka last year – and taken points on his F1 debut in Bahrain.

Should he deliver this season, there’s no reason to think he won’t be retained for next year, that is unless Lawson is so strong at Racing Bulls, he convinces Red Bull to give him another shot. It’s up to Tsunoda now to prove he has what it takes to impress Red Bull bosses in a way many before him have struggled to do.