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Liam Lawson only lasted two weekends as Max Verstappen’s teammate. Red Bull saw enough evidence in just six competitive sessions to confirm they had made a mistake.
Lawson crashed out on his debut in Australia after a Q1 exit. A Sprint weekend in China denied him much-needed practice time, and he suffered instant eliminations in both qualifying sessions.
He saw the chequered flag in Shanghai, but a P14 in the Sprint and a P15 in the race (before three disqualifications) wasn’t enough to save him. Red Bull turned to Yuki Tsunoda, the option they had overlooked only a few months earlier, from Japan onwards.
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But ultimately, their doubts about promoting Tsunoda appeared justified. His haul of 30 points in 20 weekends left him 17th in the championship – the lowest position for a Red Bull driver who started more than 15 Grands Prix.
Yuki Tsunoda was only one-tenth closer to Max Verstappen than Liam Lawson
The Race calculated the end-of-season qualifying data after last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and found that Tsunoda was 0.735s slower than Verstappen on average. The median gap, which is arguably more representative, was 0.547s.
Tsunoda didn’t receive the same upgrades as Verstappen, which he says cost him another two or three tenths. Given that the 2025 F1 season was the closest ever, this may have been particularly impactful.
Looking at Lawson, the average gap was 0.888s – only a tenth larger than the deficit between Tsunoda and Verstappen. The sample size is small, but that’s precisely the point – perhaps Red Bull should have given him more time.
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Clearly, they were worried he would spiral and, if anything, fall further off the pace. But Lawson insists confidence wasn’t his problem at Red Bull.
Partly with the benefit of hindsight, maybe Christian Horner and Helmut Marko should have been more patient with Lawson given that Tsunoda wasn’t necessarily a major upgrade.
Ultimately, leaving Red Bull may have saved Lawson’s career given that he thrived in the more stable Racing Bulls environment. But he might never fully recover from the reputational damage of losing a top drive so quickly.
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Tsunoda has, of course, lost his seat for the 2025 season, with Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar replacing him.
Arvid Lindblad succeeded Hadjar to fill the final spot in the roster, leaving Tsunoda in a backup role.
However, Tsunoda says there’s a chance he won’t just be a reserve next year. Laurent Mekies may turn to him if one of his drivers struggles and the line-ups need to be reshuffled.
Lawson is facing a make-or-break 2026, even if the pressure may be less immediate following Marko’s departure.
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