The demotion of Liam Lawson is the latest failure in a long-running saga of driver mismanagement at Red Bull.
Liam Lawson is a driver who has been praised by so many in the paddock, and for good reason. Away from his strong F1 performances in 2023 and 2024, he came close to winning the DTM title on his debut attempt. He enjoyed a competitive showing in Japanese Super Formula.
But he was walking into a disaster when Red Bull decided to promote him over the more experienced Yuki Tsunoda. Promoting Lawson that early was only going to be disastrous.
To compare, the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Daniil Kvyat, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly spent a season at the sister team before being promoted. Daniel Ricciardo spent two seasons there, and Yuki Tsunoda is in his fifth season of F1 with the team.
The best comparison would be Alex Albon. He was promoted to the senior team after half of 2019. However that comparison is slightly redundant as the field spread is even tighter than that year.
Christian Horner, Helmut Marko picked Lawson as they believed he was psychologically prepared, even though Tsunoda had more experience. I’m of the opinion that Tsunoda has earned his place on the grid with some of his performances last season.
The thing is, it was expected that Lawson would struggle in Australia and China because he had never raced there before.
However, Shanghai was a disaster. He finished behind Isack Hadjar, Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli. He only finishing ahead of Jack Doohan due to his penalty.
But demoting him after only two races shows poor judgement from Red Bull. Suzuka should be the final test for him, why? Because Suzuka is a track Lawson has experience at.
Yuki Tsunoda has a point to prove
Lawson finished second in the last Suzuka race in Super Formula. Crucially he outperformed Tsunoda there when he raced at Suzuka in 2023 while filling in for Daniel Ricciardo.
Lawson deserves at least one more race at a more familiar track. It would be his best opportunity to perform in the Red Bull RB21.
Being compared to a driver as incredible as Max Verstappen is always going to be difficult. More so, especially considering Lawson’s struggles with adjusting to the RB21.
However, will Tsunoda do any better? Apart from Daniel Ricciardo, most argue Alex Albon was the closest to Verstappen, but still quite a bit behind.
To keep his new drive, Tsunoda needs to consistently qualify and finish in the top ten. The Racing Bulls car looks to be better than the Red Bull in many areas. This has exacerbated Lawson’s struggles further.
Tsunoda has a lot to prove as well. He needs to prove that he isn’t just there for the engine deal and that he is Formula One material. It’s his fifth season now and he has had time, more time than many others have, to prove himself. Now that time is wearing thin.
Controlling a fiery temper
His temperament has come to define him. Iconic radio moments can be attributed to the 24-year-old, but he has matured in the last year or so. The occasional incident still happens, but his temper is far better than it was when he joined the grid.
His junior record is arguably more impressive than Lawson’s – he finished ninth in Formula 3 with the Jenzer team, who were not known for being a front-runner. This achievement is arguably more impressive than finishing second with a Prema, or a fourth with ART.
He did brilliantly in Formula 2, being the highest rookie with three wins and finishing third in the standings with Carlin. These performances convinced Red Bull to replace Daniil Kvyat with him in the AlphaTauri team.
His results have been mixed. He had some brilliant performances, such as fourth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in his debut season. Although that race was more remembered for what happened ahead of him.
In Sao Paulo last year, Tsunoda qualified a brilliant third and finished inside the points. This demonstrated, along with his Monza F3 performance, his talent in the wet.
Liam Lawson vs Yuki Tsunoda: Two careers in numbers
To compare, Lawson finished 11th in the same F3 season with a slightly better team and finished fifth with the Hitech team in 2020.
He won on his F2 debut, but was beaten by slightly more experienced teammate Juri Vips. His second season was better and finished third for Carlin, but he was further off Felipe Drugovich than Tsunoda was to Mick Schumacher.
Lawson’s had some good performances. He also qualified high up in Sao Paulo with a fifth and finished inside the points in ninth after finishing ninth (originally 11th) in the US Grand Prix (after a few scraps with Fernando Alonso) two rounds prior.
Those two results, combined with a ninth in Singapore in 2023, make up every F1 points finish of his F1 career.
Most would argue that isn’t enough to prove he should be in the seat. Whilst he has shown more versatility than Tsunoda in different machinery, I would rather have a driver like Emerson Fittipaldi than Jacky Ickx. Or to put it more simply, I’d rather have a driver specifically built for F1 than an all-rounder.
But Red Bull’s mistakes here are shown once again. They made the mistake of signing Nyck de Vries, they made the mistake of picking Ricciardo over Lawson and now have made the mistake of picking Lawson to go into a Red Bull seat with only 11 Grand Prix under his belt.
