Drive to Survive captures exact moment Christian Horner realises Liam Lawson axe was a mistake

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Liam Lawson may well have scored similar results to Yuki Tsunoda had he remained in the second Red Bull seat last year. In season eight of Drive to Survive, one can sense that Horner regrets the swap.

Tsunoda scored 30 points in 22 races after replacing Lawson, which left him 17th in the championship. Red Bull finished third in the constructors’ but Max Verstappen could have achieved that result single-handedly.

Indeed, even if Tsunoda had contributed just over 50 points – below the bare minimum – it would have been enough to pip Mercedes to second place.

Prove me wrong: Liam Lawson can show he deserves another chance at Red Bull

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Yes, Lawson failed to score a point or escape Q1 in his first two races. But Tsunoda’s average finishing position over the full year was 12.6, and it’s not hard to imagine that Lawson could have replicated that at the very least.

Christian Horner’s ‘utterly lost’ verdict on Yuki Tsunoda highlights Liam Lawson error

Red Bull’s nightmare showing at their home Grand Prix in Austria features in the same episode as Lawson’s demotion.

Verstappen was taken out on the opening lap at the Red Bull Ring, while Tsunoda was the last classified finisher in 16th, two laps down. The Japanese driver also received a 10-second penalty for colliding with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.

During a conversation with Helmut Marko in the garage after the race, it feels as if Horner realises that calling up Tsunoda was a mistake. A personnel change alone wasn’t going to solve the endemic problems with the second car.

“What can we do with Yuki?” Marko asks.

Horner replies: “I think he’s totally lost. Totally and utterly lost.”

Horner says that Lawson’s exit was Marko’s decision rather than his own. Successor Laurent Mekies has launched a ‘360 degree’ review into the persistent struggles of Verstappen’s teammates.

Christian Horner says Max Verstappen objected to Liam Lawson demotion because he was ‘grumpy’

In the same episode, Sky F1 reporter Craig Slater asks Horner off the record about Verstappen’s stance on the driver change.

While he was reluctant to share his thoughts in detail, Verstappen liked a social media post from ex-F1 driver Giedo van der Garde accusing Red Bull of ‘bullying or a panic move’. He later confirmed that he agreed with these sentiments.

• READ MORE: Liam Lawson involved in awkward ‘shirt change’ moment with Netflix crews after Red Bull demotion

However, Horner told Slater that Verstappen was simply ‘grumpy’ at the time because Red Bull had made a disappointing start to the season. It was clear after just two races that McLaren had built a significantly better car.

“There’s a lot of negativity around ‘Max is unhappy’,” Horner says. “Like any racing driver, they’re always grumpy when they’re not winning.”