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Liam Lawson realised his lifelong dream of driving for Red Bull in 2025, but the move turned into a nightmare that lasted only two rounds before he rejoined Racing Bulls.
Red Bull elected to place Lawson in their main team for the start of the 2025 F1 season after 11 cameo appearances across the two previous campaigns for their sister Racing Bulls outfit. The 23-year-old beat Yuki Tsunoda to earn a promotion after Red Bull released Sergio Perez.
Yet Tsunoda would trade seats with Lawson from only the third round of the 2025 campaign, with the latter returning to Faenza for the remainder of the season. Red Bull quickly felt they had made a mistake promoting Lawson to replace Perez after he failed to adapt to the RB21.
Tsunoda would also struggle in the RB21 next to Max Verstappen in 2025, and he would only score 30 points across his 21 outings with Red Bull. Now, the Japanese racer will move into a reserve driver role in 2026 after Red Bull promoted Isack Hadjar to partner with Verstappen.
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Max Verstappen’s dominance at Red Bull in 2025 proved he could be one of F1’s greatest drivers
Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa believes Lawson and Tsunoda’s plight at Red Bull during 2025 also just goes to show how “special” Verstappen really is, as he dominated two “excellent drivers” with the same car. Lawson failed to score a single point while at Red Bull.
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The former McLaren driver also feels Verstappen’s efforts during 2025 proved why he could go down as one of the greatest F1 drivers ever. Verstappen came back from a 104-point gap to finish the 2025 season a mere two points shy of winning a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.
“Yes,” De la Rosa told Automoto.it. “I’m impressed by him. And this year, he’s opened a lot of people’s eyes, managing to achieve incredible results without having the best car.
“When he was winning easily, everyone said he had the best car, without realising that his teammates rarely finished second. He was already doing something incredible, but people didn’t notice.
“But what he’s managed to do this year, compared to what two excellent drivers like Lawson and Tsunoda were achieving, is proof of how special he is.”
Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda were simply no match for Max Verstappen at Red Bull
Red Bull dealt Lawson a brutal hand to start 2025, as the season kicked off in Australia and China. The Kiwi had never previously raced in Melbourne or Shanghai during his brief career, and he had to learn the circuits while Red Bull tried to fix their car’s through-corner balance.
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How would you rate Liam Lawson’s 2025 season out of 10?
Verstappen would largely drive around the RB21’s early problems. But Lawson qualified last on pace for the Sprint in Shanghai and the Chinese Grand Prix, which proved to be the final straw for Red Bull. Verstappen qualified P2 for the Sprint and P4 for the Grand Prix in China.
Tsunoda would also struggle to show anything at Red Bull compared to Verstappen in 2025, while Lawson turned his season around after Racing Bulls took a front suspension upgrade to the Austrian Grand Prix. Lawson earned 34 of his 38 points in 2025 after round 11 of 24.
Red Bull had to wait until round 23 to see Tsunoda out-qualify Verstappen for the first time for the Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix, as the Japanese ace edged the Dutchman in P5 and P6 by 0.009s. Verstappen beat Tsunoda 22-0 in Grand Prix qualifying sessions during 2025.
Lawson and Tsunoda were simply no match for Verstappen, having also lost 2-0 and 21-1 in their Grand Prix results head-to-heads. The only time that Red Bull saw Tsunoda lead their charge in a Grand Prix was when Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed into Verstappen in Austria.
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