F1 Liam Lawson tries to set the record straight after brutal Red Bull demotion, Yuki Tsunoda, Max Verstappen
Liam Lawson says he wasn't given time to prove himself at Red Bull Racing before his brutal sacking just two rounds into the season.
Lawson was drafted up from Racing Bulls to replace the out-of-favour Sergio Pérez this season, but dire results at the opening Australian and Chinese grands prix convinced Red Bull Racing management to make an emergency change, sending him back to Faenza in exchange for Yuki Tsunoda.
Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
It was a ruthlessly early move on the Kiwi, who had started just 13 races when he was dropped ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Speaking to the F1 website at the halfway mark of the season, Lawson argued that while he accepted his results were poor, he was never given a chance to prove his underperformance was down to insufficient preparation rather than skill.
Liam Lawson has spoken out about his demotion. (Photo by)
'I was well aware that those results weren't good enough, but I was just focused on improving, fixing and learning, basically,' he said. 'I was in the same mindset as I have been since I came into F1.
'I think that was the biggest thing going into a team like that, in a car like that it was going to take a bit of time to adjust and learn.
'With no proper testing, the issues in testing, the issues in Melbourne through practice, it wasn't smooth and clean.
'I needed time, and I wasn't given it.'
Tsunoda's struggles in his seat have cast Lawson's difficulties in a new light. While the Kiwi's results were considerably poorer, the well-regarded Japanese driver has yet to make a breakthrough with the difficult RB21.
Yuki Tsunoda has had his own issues in the top team. (Photo by)
On average his results have been similar to those that had Pérez sent packing with two years to run on his contract at the end of last year.
But the fact Tsunoda has been unable to perform — despite having been in sizzling form at Racing Bulls in 2024 and the first two rounds of 2025 — has finally forced the team to reckon with a more deeply seated problem than just its second driver.
For years the design department has developed an increasingly niche car.
Max Verstappen, his abilities preternatural, has been able to master it, but the mere mortal drivers partnered with him have endured greater and greater difficulties behind the wheel.
This year even Verstappen has been unable to deliver consistent performances in the car, completing the team's rapid descent from dominant title winner in 2023 to also-ran just two years later.
Tsunoda will be given at least until the end of the season, after which the prevalent assumption is he'll be moved on, though a fresh tack under new principal Laurent Mekies could yet change the game.
A series of drivers have struggled to partner Max Verstappen. (Photo by)
The subsequent events reframed Lawson's struggles — and not just his; Pérez, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly could all claim some credit back here — in less harsh terms.
It's cold comfort for the Kiwi, however, whose career flipped from dazzlingly ascendant to alarmingly precarious less than a fortnight into the season.
With Red Bull's next young gun, Arvid Lindblad, in line for promotion to Formula 1 next season, what should have been a dream season could yet turn into a nightmare.
Despite Christian Horner, the then Red Bull Racing principal, having claimed Lawson's demotion was an exercise in its 'duty of care to protect and develop Liam', his results remained stubbornly unimpressive upon his return to Racing Bulls.
There are several elements that have gone into making him look more ordinary than expected.
Former boss Christian Horner (right) and the team fell on much harder times in recent years. (Photo by)
One is the acclimatisation process.
Being thrown from one car to another in the middle of the season is always difficult, and after having struggled with an interrupted pre-season program at Red Bull Racing, having no pre-season at all with Racing Bulls made that challenge steeper.
The other is that his teammate, Isack Hadjar, is arguably the standout rookie of the season. The Frenchman has been especially impressive in qualifying, and given the tightness of the midfield, that's made his Sunday results more impressive too.
It's been easy to conclude a third reason — that Lawson, after being chewed up and spat out by one of F1's grandees in just two grands prix – had his confidence shattered.
Pérez, after all, looked like a broken man in his final months at Red Bull Racing.
Lawson, however, denies that psychology has played a role.
'I haven't really talked much about it because I think for a big part of this year I've just ignored everything that happened and I've just focused on trying to drive the car, but I know there was a lot of stuff that went out that was speculation about how I was feeling,' he said.
'My confidence hasn't changed since the start of the year to now.
'One thing to be clear about is that between the first couple of races, to the team switch, then going to Japan, mentally for me nothing changed.
'It's been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false. From the start of the year I felt the same as I always have.
'I think in two races, on tracks I'd never been to, it's not really enough for my confidence [to suffer].
'Maybe six months into a season if I'm still at that level, if the results are still like that, then I'd be feeling something, maybe my confidence would be taking a hit.'
Lawson may not have got the time he deserved at Red Bull Racing to make an impression, but he has 12 more grands prix to state his case in a car capable of occasional big results.
The pressure's on, but it's up to him to prove he's equal to the challenge.
Originally published as Liam Lawson tries to set the record straight after brutal Red Bull demotion
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

News.com.au
30 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘The doctor said I'd won the lottery': Appendicitis may have cost Jack Howarth an Origin debut, but the health scare was a blessing in disguise
Storm centre Jack Howarth probably would have made his State of Origin debut this year had it not been for two separate setbacks, but he says everything happens for a reason after doctors told him he'd 'won the lottery'. Howarth was in the mix for the series opener but was ruled out of contention due to a dislocated shoulder that opened the door for Roosters rookie Robert Toia to make his Maroons debut after just 10 NRL appearances. The powerful Storm centre returned and was part of Queensland's extended squad for game two, with Howarth expected to eventually get his shot given he represented his state in the under 18s and under 19s. The door was open for him to get his crack when Kalyn Ponga went down with a foot injury, but it wasn't meant to be for Howarth, who was struck down with appendicitis just days before the game three squad was announced. Broncos bolter Gehamat Shibasaki was picked at left centre and did a fine job for Billy Slater as the Maroons clinched the series in Sydney, but it could have easily been Howarth celebrating in the sheds with his teammates. 'It's hard to tell. There were a few conversations but there was no definite call (from Slater),' Howarth told the NewsWire. 'I was just happy that I was in the picture to be selected. Everything happens for a reason and maybe it wasn't my time to play. I'm just glad they went out and won, and Shibasaki has been playing great footy and he has an unreal story, so he deserved it. 'As much as it sucked at the time, it worked out that I was able to get my issues fixed, so it wasn't a big loss.' Those issues could have become very serious, with Howarth revealing how quickly things turned for the worse after initially feeling unwell on Monday, June 23, before he had his appendix removed the next day and was out of hospital on the Wednesday. 'Mine was instant,' he replied when asked about the pain, with the Maroons side for the decider named a week later. 'I was lying in bed and I thought I had eaten something off and it was just stomach pain. But it started to get a lot sharper, so I drove myself to emergency that night. 'It was too much of a big line, so I thought 'stuff it' and I just went home. 'I went and told the club doctor my symptoms and she decided to get me checked. They did a little ultrasound, saw it and told me I had appendicitis and needed surgery that day. 'It was such a fast process but I just had to wait for the wounds to heal.' While appendicitis is nothing new for footy players, Howarth says there were other concerns that showed up after the initial ultrasound. He only missed two club games, but it could have been a lot worse if he hadn't been checked out. Jack Howarth is out this week after requiring surgery to have his appendix removed. Storm expect him to miss at least a few weeks (+ Origin 3). Return time can vary, but most are in the 3-5 week range. Quickest - Adam Reynolds returned just 2 weeks post appendix removal in 2017. — NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) June 25, 2025 'I missed a bit of footy, which sucked, but they also found a bit of internal damage while I was there, so it was a blessing in disguise that I had my appendix checked,' he said. 'I don't know exactly what the other stuff was, but the doctor said I'd won the lottery and that down the track it could have been a lot worse if they hadn't spotted it. 'Everything happens for a reason and I'm just lucky that they found that problem.'

News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Melbourne captain Max Gawn says he didn't get organised fast enough in the frantic loss to St Kilda
Melbourne captain Max Gawn concedes he failed to 'nail' the dramatic final few moments of Sunday's stunning loss to St Kilda that has put coach Simon Goodwin's future in the spotlight. But the Demons skipper was adamant Goodwin was his 'favourite coach' and said the blame should lay with the players as he broke down exactly what went wrong. Gawn tried to organise his troops after some centre-circle confusion when St Kilda was given a 6-6-6 free kick, with scores level and just eight seconds on the clock. But that organisation didn't secure an opponent for Saints star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who kicked his second goal in the final minute of the game to deliver his team the greatest comeback in VFL/AFL history and a six-point win with a goal after the siren. 'I'm probably the only one on the field who knows that we got a warning in the second quarter; they tell the ruckman,' Gawn said. 'We were about to step in the circle, and I realised we had about two seconds to find a winger; there wasn't a winger on the other side. From there, I didn't nail it. 'In the end, it's three seconds, so I don't have much time, but I sent (Jack Viney) to the wing and tried to get a forward in – but it was a back that we had too many of. After that free kick happened, we didn't nail it as well.' Melbourne gave up a 46-point three-quarter-time lead as the Saints charged home with nine final quarter goals, including the last two to Wanganeen-Milera that has been labelled the best 60 seconds of football ever. Gawn, who said he didn't play 'my best quarter' in the final stanza, said while it looked like the Demons 'shut up shop', it was just too hard to halt St Kilda's momentum. 'We played pretty well for the first three quarters, but they kicked two or three early in the fourth (quarter) and it's pretty hard to stop momentum, especially the way the Saints were playing,' he told Triple M's Mick in the Morning. 'We started to lose the centre bounce, and then when it's three goals to play with that comeback, it's extremely hard to stop. Leaders, most importantly, were responsible for a bit of that. I didn't play my best last quarter.' The Demons tried to break down the final few minutes in the aftermath, which Gawn said had happened too many times, including against Collingwood when the captain's kick across goals in the dying seconds resulted in a major to the Magpies. Gawn said it seemed his team 'don't know how to win' close games. 'We spent 10 minutes in the rooms before Goody called us in. We talked among ourselves for a little bit, and the mechanism of the last play and try to find out what happened,' he said. 'There's been five times this year where we haven't known how to win; Giants in the first game we lost by a kick-out, Collingwood we lost by a ruckman trying to kick a torp across goal, and then last week against Carlton we stuffed up. Right now, we don't know how to win in those close games which comes down to resilience and ruthlessness. 'We are trying our backsides off, and we all really want to win. We have to learn how to win. We will talk the talk again in training; all our talk is there and then we get to the point, and we don't do it.'

ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Alex de Minaur beats Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in epic Washington DC Open final
Australia's Alex de Minaur has won an epic Washington DC Open final against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, claiming his 10th singles title 7-3 in the final-set tiebreak. The 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3) victory gave de Minaur his first championship of 2025, and denied Davidovich Fokina his maiden crown. De Minaur was favoured against his 26th-ranked opponent, but it was clear from the outset he would not have it all his own way as Davidovich Fokina produced some stirring shots to win the first set in over an hour. The Australian number one hit back by tearing through the second set 6-1, before being broken in the fourth game of the decider as Davidovich Fokina jumped out to a 4-1 lead. The 26-year-old served for the match at 5-3 and looked set for his first championship since turning pro in 2017 as he skipped to 30-0, before de Minaur battled back with four straight points to get back on serve. Down 15-30 on his serve, de Minaur framed a low volley that snuck over the net and out of his opponent's reach before the pair carried on to the first of six deuces in what turned out to be a 10-minute game, during which de Minaur fought off three match points. Both players overcame any jangling nerves with successive clutch service holds to send the match to a tiebreak. De Minaur got the early mini break to jump out to a 2-0 lead, before being reeled back in to 2-2, only to poke his nose back out in front at 4-2. Davidovich Fokina stayed in it with de Minaur's unforced error to keep it on serve, but the Australian rattled off three straight points to close out the match and win a thrilling decider.