Two races, then it was over: Liam Lawson feels let down by Red Bull and speaks openly about his difficult situation
Liam Lawson looks back with disappointment on his short time at Red Bull. Speaking to RacingNews365, Lawson said: “There are obviously things that, in hindsight, you wish you had done differently.” However, Lawson did not give a specific example.
He explained: “If I had known that I would only get two races, I probably would have done some things differently – but I didn’t know that at the time.”
“I was perhaps a little naive because I thought I would get more time to learn.”
After just two races, it’s all over for Lawson
But Red Bull didn’t give him that time: Lawson had to vacate his seat alongside four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen after just two race weekends. There was a cockpit swap: Lawson returned to Racing Bulls, while Yuki Tsunoda moved to Red Bull – but he also delivered disappointing results.
The difference: While Red Bull had a short fuse in Lawson’s case and quickly took action, Tsunoda is also under pressure to succeed, but he doesn’t have to worry about his cockpit – at least not in the 2025 season. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has already emphasized this several times.
Why Lawson is annoyed in retrospect
This is another reason why Lawson is annoyed: his starting position at Red Bull was extremely difficult. The races in Australia and China took place on tracks “I had never driven on before, and one of them was even a sprint weekend.”
After technical problems during the Formula 1 winter tests in Bahrain, things didn’t go smoothly for Lawson at Red Bull in the Grands Prix either.
What’s more, during the second race weekend in China, the team decided to take a leap of faith with the setup of Lawson’s RB21 “in order to learn something,” as Lawson explained.
“For me, it was clear that it was about developing myself for the future and understanding the car better. So I agreed to drive with this setup.”
Unfair treatment at Red Bull?
The results were evident in qualifying: Lawson lost 0.75 seconds to Verstappen in Q1 and finished last. In the Grand Prix, he managed to move up to twelfth place, but finished more than a minute behind Verstappen in fourth.
All a consequence of the unusual setup? Lawson feels he has been treated unfairly: “This performance was basically used to kick me out of the team.”
The New Zealander had to digest that after his forced move to Racing Bulls. Recently, however, Lawson’s form has been on the up again: he has scored points three times in the last four Formula 1 race weekends and has closed the gap to his Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar in the overall standings.
