Liam Lawson’s Red Bull career has come to an abrupt end, with Yuki Tsunoda reportedly set to replace him at the 2025 Japanese GP. Lawson’s performances were abysmal by Red Bull’s standards, and the team is looking to avoid further dents to the championship hopes. The decision has understandably made a section of F1’s fanbase happy.
Lawson never managed to win the fans over. His scraps with veteran drivers Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were taken as a sign of disrespect by them. His rather overconfident claims of being better than Perez and Tsunoda never sat too well either. In addition, he was also accused of leaking news of Daniel Ricciardo’s exit last year.
Ricciardo was struggling with form in 2024. And it looked inevitable that Racing Bulls, Red Bull’s sister team, would remove him. Some rumors have alleged that during the Singapore GP, Lawson’s team informed the media that it would be Ricciardo’s last race in F1.
This forced Racing Bulls to formalize the exit sooner than planned. Ricciardo seemed unaware of the situation and was caught off guard by reporters in the media pen after the race. So, fans who believe Lawson did this would find it hard to sympathize with the Kiwi over his Red Bull exit.
“I would feel sorry for Liam Lawson, but he got his team to tell media Daniel was being removed from the line-up during the race. Daniel found up he retired in the media pen after the race. Karma came for Liam quickly,” a fan wrote on X.
Liability Lawson team started ‘leaking’ he would replace Daniel Ricciardo from Japan last year, just for him to be dropped by Red Bull in Japan this year lol #karma pic.twitter.com/4xgp3AsNh9
— hannah 3️⃣ (@h44n3h) March 26, 2025
Another user recalled Lawson’s incident with Perez in Mexico last year when he showed the veteran driver the finger after overtaking him — a gesture the New Zealander now insists he regrets.
“No one likes Liam, he literally showed a finger to Checo during a race, claims he is not here to make friends but win, talks s**t to the media,” they wrote.
No one likes Liam, he literally showed a finger to Checo during a race, claims he is not here to make friends but win, talks shit to the media.
Karma really needs to eat him up so bad I am sorry. https://t.co/dHlwXtsK9j
— Tairu (@TayCode) March 26, 2025
There are many parallels between Ricciardo’s removal and Lawson’s. Reports claim that Red Bull did not inform the Kiwi about his replacement before the media revealed it to the public on Tuesday.
This is not the first time that Red Bull’s handling of its driver lineup has faced heavy criticism. The team’s inability to find a suitable number two for Max Verstappen has hurt them significantly in recent years. Multiple drivers have failed to match the Dutchman’s performance.
Now, Tsunoda will take on this daunting challenge. But for Red Bull, at least a massive payday awaits, as Honda, Tsunoda’s backers, are willing to pay $21.5 million to secure his seat.
