Liam Lawson's difficult start to 2025 Formula One season continued at the Chinese Grand Prix. After crashing from the 18th place qualifier and the Australian Grand Prix, Lawson competed in the P20 in both the Formula 1 sprint race and the Shanghai Grand Prix itself, finishing outside of points in both events.
Now, Red Bull looks up at both McLaren and Mercedes in the rankings, and Lawson is looking for the first point of the season, making speculation growing about the team's potential replacement for an early season.
According to Autosport Red Bull is “considering changing the driver lineup” before the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks, and Yuki Tsunoda is an option as a potential replacement.
Speaking to the media following the Chinese Grand Prix, Horner pushed “speculation in the paddock” aside and said he felt “sorry” to the young driver who was being pressured at this point.
“There's always speculation in the paddock. As I say, we've just finished the race here. We've got rid of the information and take a closer look at it.” It's begun Horner cited Sky Sports F1.
“I think Liam had a tough race, a tough weekend here. We chose to remove him from Park Ferme from the grid and make some major setup changes. “Obviously, we'll take it off, look at it and do our best to support him as a group.”
“Formula 1 is a pressure business, right? There's always time pressure. And [Lawson] I know that.” continuation Horner.
“Hopefully he will respond accordingly and see where we go.
“Liam is a great little racer. I mean, he takes his elbows out. He races hard. He finds his limits in this car, makes the most of the car, and as a team, he tries to support him in the best possible way possible.
The language “Elbows Out” reflects what Horner had to say about Lawson when Lawson debuted in 2024 at the US Grand Prix. Lawson, who took over that race weekend for struggling Daniel Riccardo at VCarb, got some on-track scraps with Fernando Alonso.
That certainly caught the attention of Horner at the time.
“Yeah, if you're in the spat and elbows out with Fernando [Alonso] It's fine in the first race I'm back. And I think he drove an extraordinary race today from 19th to 9th place today,” Horner told the media. SB Nationin Austin last October. “He was fast. He had the courage and I thought it was a great comeback for him.”
However, there are no results at this time. And Red Bull is kicked out in the Constructors Championship standings, and Max Verstappen looks up at driver Rand Norris in both George Russell and Oscar Piastri, knowing that the team needs two drivers to mix.
“You're always looking for the ultimate performance, and fast cars will never be easy to drive, but we know there is performance that we need to find. If you have the opportunity to compete for a constructor's championship, you need both drivers.” explained Horner.
“As well as a driver's championship, you'll need to play the second car. You can't do that with one foot. So, we collectively want to make the most of both drivers and make sure that both cars get to the grid as much as possible.”
As for the driver himself, Lawson confirmed this weekend that he needs to “play.” Otherwise, he may not be long.
“But I'm not stupid either. Obviously I know I'm here to play, otherwise I'm not going to be around.” It is listed Lawson. “So for me, I'm just focusing on getting used to the car as quickly as possible.”
Lawson's problem may be Red Bull's infamous lack of patience when it comes to its second seat. He has run with five different teammates since Verstappen slipped into his current location during the 2016 season: Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Pérez, and current Lawson.
And as the team stood by Danil Kviat, Verstappen received his seat.
As for who will replace Lawson, Tsunoda is the name that comes to mind. He was handed over this past offseason for promotion to Red Bull – when the team parted ways with Perez – Tsunoda got off to a strong start this year with the Visa Cash App Race Bulls. He finished fifth in the Australian Grand Prix and ninth in the China Grand Prix.
He didn't finish at points in either race (he was reverted to the point on a strategy call in Melbourne and suffered a front wing damage in Shanghai).
Asked if he would be open to such a switch for his next race, Tsunoda, his home race in Japan, responded enthusiastically.
“Japan? Yes, 100%. In other words [Red Bull] The car is faster.” I said driver.
It is not yet clear whether Red Bull actually does such a switch. However, at this point the door appears to be open to such a movement.
