Red Bull have once again made one of their infamous mid-season driver swaps, but this time they did so earlier than anyone would have expected. With only two rounds into the 2025 season, the Austrian team probably have enough evidence that they made a mistake by promoting Liam Lawson from their sister team Racing Bulls.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko certainly thinks so. He was candid about the same in an interview with OE24, stating, “He went into a downward spiral. It’s like a battered boxer; it’s very difficult to get out of it. In that sense, it was a mistake.”
It was after the Chinese GP weekend when Red Bull’s top brass convened for a meeting, presumably in Dubai, to decide upon Lawson‘s future. The decision to swap him with Yuki Tsunoda, that too, after just two races may seem harsh, but the Milton Keynes outfit is doing so to avoid losing too much ground in the championship.
On top of that, they have also claimed that they wish to safeguard Lawson’s confidence, which was getting affected under pressure of not performing in the RB21. But it is definitely a demotion to return to Racing Bulls, right? Well, Marko has strangely claimed that it isn’t a demotion, leading to a sarcastic backlash from fans.
“He’s not being demoted,” Marko said per Motorsport. “He’s moving to Racing Bulls”. Even though the Faenza-based team probably has a better car so far in the 2025 campaign, they will lack the top-team potential that Red Bull will eventually live up to. So, Marko’s comments seem like a diplomatic cover-up of Lawson’s demotion.
One fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Yeah whatever makes you sleep at night”.
yeah whatever makes you sleep at night https://t.co/ejxuI3fnws
— georgia (@tomlins44n) March 28, 2025
Meanwhile, another fan stated that Lawson’s move to Racing Bulls is “definitely a demotion”, subtly alluding to the fact that Marko is just trying to sugarcoat the reality.
It’s definitely a demotion.
— Mummy J (@MummyMay58) March 28, 2025
Irrespective of how Marko coins Lawson’s switch, all drivers in the Red Bull stable dream of driving for the main team rather than staying at their sister team. The New Zealander felt the same way.
“Being a @redbullracing driver has been my dream since I was a kid, it’s what I’ve worked towards my whole life,” he wrote on Instagram after Red Bull confirmed the switch. “It’s tough, but I’m grateful for everything that’s brought me to this point. To every one of you who’s stood by me, thank you for all the support, it means the world”.
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And while the fan perception around the 23-year-old is mostly negative, Lawson’s current situation is getting a whole lot of attention currently, with many experts criticizing the Milton Keynes outfit’s hurried decision-making.
Experts hit back at Marko’s claims of promoting Lawson being a mistake
Red Bull’s decision to promote Lawson over Tsunoda was quite strange in the first place. The Kiwi had only 11 race starts under his belt, relative to Tsunoda’s four-year experience at Faenza. So, it just makes things even more complex that they have dropped Lawson after just two race weekends despite trusting him previously.
Just two Grands Prix certainly does not seem enough time to judge any driver’s potential, let alone a racer who has never competed at the tracks F1 has visited so far. And even though Lawson has decent experience of racing at the Suzuka International Circuit—where the next race takes place—Red Bull pulling the plug before that doesn’t sit right with many.
In fact, Marko’s claims of deeming Lawson’s initial promotion a mistake caught F1 journalist Ian Parkes’ eye. “To describe him as a ‘mistake’, that’s gonna be harsh,” Parkes said. “That’s like a punch in the stomach for Liam. That’s gonna hurt”.
Meanwhile, former F1 TV presenter Will Buxton has hit back at Red Bull boss Christian Horner’s claims of wanting to protect Lawson. “I think the ‘duty of care’ line is laughable and it’s almost gaslighting,” Buxton said on The Fast and the Curious podcast. Buxton feels Horner and Marko are just trying to undo their initial decision and put papering on the cracks.
Nevertheless, it is up to Tsunoda now to justify Red Bull’s seemingly hasty decision. While he has quite a low benchmark to meet relative to Lawson’s abysmal performances, the Austrian outfit will have high expectations from the Japanese driver. And given they are often low on patience, Tsunoda needs to deliver or at least show potential in the initial few races.
