Red Bull Axe Liam Lawson, Bring In Yuki Tsunoda Ahead Of Japanese Grand Prix
Yuki Tsunoda will take over from Liam Lawson starting at his home Japanese Grand Prix next week at Suzuka, Red Bull said in a statement.
The Oracle Red Bull Racing Team on Thursday replaced Kiwi driver Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda, ahead of the latter’s home race at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, April 6.
Lawson raced beside Tsunoda in the latter stages of last season after replacing Daniel Ricciardo at the then-named RB team, and his performances were enough to earn him a promotion to Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s new teammate this year after the exit of Sergio Perez.
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Lawson struggled to get to grips with the RB21 during the Aussie and Chinese Grand Prix weekends, crashing out in the former amidst treacherous conditions before finishing 15th in Shanghai, which later became 12th after three cars were disqualified.
“It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races, and as a result, we have collectively decided to make an early switch. 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," team principal Christian Horner said in a statement.
“We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car. We welcome him to the Team and are looking forward to seeing him behind the wheel of the RB21," Horner added.
Reports surfaced that Lawson could be replaced as early as Round 3 in Japan, and now it has been confirmed that Tsunoda will fill the former’s seat when Formula 1 returns to Suzuka on April 4, with Lawson returning to the Racing Bulls team beside rookie Isack Hadjar.
After debuting for the then-named AlphaTauri team in 2021, Tsunoda has continued to develop as a driver across the years that have followed, the Japanese racer having outscored his recent teammates, including Nyck de Vries and Ricciardo.
Last year was one that Tsunoda lauded as one of his best after scoring 30 of his team’s 46 points across the season.
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