Red Bull ‘axe Liam Lawson’ after two F1 races as replacement set | F1 | Sport

Red Bull have reportedly decided to axe Liam Lawson after just two races of the Formula One season, following a disappointing start to the 2025 campaign. He was chosen over Yuki Tsunoda to replace Sergio Perez but two Q1 eliminations, in addition to P15 and P12 finishes in Australia and China, prompted the team to move in another direction.

Dutch outlet De Limburger claim that following an emergency meeting in Dubai involving team principal Christian Horner and senior advisor Helmut Marko, Red Bull decided to drop Lawson in favour of another rival already on the grid.

Canal+ claims that his replacement is Tsunoda, who was snubbed in favour of the Kiwi just a few months ago, but will now get his chance to compete next to Max Verstappen.

Tsunoda is set to take over at the Japanese Grand Prix, his home circuit and the next stop on the F1 calendar after a week’s break. Lawson will reportedly return to Racing Bulls alongside Isack Hadjar.

Lawson qualified 18th at the Australian GP and then crashed out. Then he was slowest during both the Chinese sprint and Grand Prix qualifying sessions, going on to finish 16th.

The 23-year-old had not raced in either Australia’s circuit nor China’s previously and problems with the RB21 have been noted by the team and Verstappen. But Lawson’s zero points compared to the 36 of his team-mate have been deemed unacceptable.

The call is said to have the backing of Honda, who are staunch supporters of Tsunoda, with Red Bull reportedly approaching the power unit provider over how much they would be willing to pay for the Japanese driver to race alongside Verstappen.

They are reportedly willing to pay ‘multiple millions’ to see Tsunoda finally get his chance at Red Bull.

And Lawson may be ruing comments he made in the build-up to the Chinese GP, having rejected the idea of holding any sympathy for Tsunoda, after he took the job that his rival was hoping to land.

Replying to The Telegraph, Lawson said: “Honestly? No. You can’t in this sport, and anyway if I look back over our career, I was team-mates with him in F3 and I beat him. In Euro Formula I was team-mates with him in New Zealand, and I beat him there.

“And then in F1 last season, I think honestly, if I look at all the times he got promoted instead of me in those early years, then no. He’s had his time. Now it’s my time.”