Liam Lawson explains why he can ‘never’ compare himself to Red Bull replacement Yuki Tsunoda

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Liam Lawson has had a pretty turbulent 2025 Formula 1 season, being ousted by Red Bull after just two races for Yuki Tsunoda.

The New Zealander won the race to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, with Christian Horner handing him his first full-time season in the sport. Despite beating Lawson in the final six races of 2024 and having more experience, Tsunoda was left at Racing Bulls.

There was a weight of expectation on the 23-year-old’s shoulders heading into 2025. Nico Rosberg predicted Lawson as the biggest surprise of the season, but he would get it horribly wrong.

Almost immediately, the Kiwi driver struggled to adapt to the RB21, qualifying P18 on debut in Melbourne, before crashing out in the race. Things got worse in Shanghai, as he qualified last for the Sprint and main race, finishing 12th on Sunday.

That was enough for Red Bull as they dropped him back to Racing Bulls, with Tsunoda replacing him from Suzuka onwards. Helmut Marko wanted Lawson out after the Australian GP, but Horner gave him a second chance in China, which proved to be the final straw.

Liam Lawson could ‘never’ compare himself to Yuki Tsunoda as he did not get enough races at Red Bull

Tsunoda has fared little better since replacing Lawson. The Japanese driver also struggled to extract the most out of the RB21, with regular exits before Q3 and non-points finishes.

Results have improved in recent races, with a best finish of sixth at Baku. However, he has only scored 25 points in 18 races for Red Bull as he sits 17th in the standings.

With Laurent Mekies now focusing more attention on the second car, one can only imagine how Lawson would have performed if he had kept his seat. Speaking on Mike Hosking Breakfast, the Kiwi driver says he can ‘never’ compare himself to Tsunoda due to only getting two races in the car.

“It’s not something I think about directly with him,” he explained. “I think that, at the end of the day, I had two races on two tracks I’d never been to.

“We didn’t do pre-season, we didn’t do a load of testing last year and pre-season testing to get it ready for this season. So, I would never be able to compare because I just didn’t do the races. I did two and then I was out. He’s had the whole season in the car. 

“I could never compare because, obviously, as a racing driver, we always back ourselves, right? And I’m always going to sit here and go: ‘Hey, after the amount of time, I feel like I would have got my head around it and been somewhere’. But I think, to compare, we didn’t get given the same amount of races.” 

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

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Since his demotion to Racing Bulls, Lawson has enjoyed an upturn in form. The VCARB 02 is much easier to handle than the RB21, which he has used to his advantage to rebuild his confidence and score strong results.

The New Zealander is now ahead of Tsunoda in the standings and is nine points behind rookie teammate Isack Hadjar, who is expected to join Red Bull in 2026. Lawson is flourishing in a more familiar environment and an easier car to drive.

An unnamed team principal thinks Racing Bulls have a better car than Red Bull in terms of stability. It has benefited Lawson greatly as he has put himself back in contention for a 2026 seat, with things looking pretty bleak at the start of the season.

He is being considered alongside Tsunoda and Arvid Lindblad for a seat at Racing Bulls. Lindblad’s manager thinks he could be better than Lawson and avoid the same ‘issues’ he faced at Red Bull – the feeling is that the pair will be teammates in 2026.