Red Bull Confirm Yuki Tsunoda Will Replace Liam Lawson From The Japanese Grand Prix

Red Bull have confirmed that Yuki Tsunoda will replace Liam Lawson and race alongside Max Verstappen from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards. 

Red Bull Swap Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda

Liam Lawson had been promoted to the Red Bull team for the 2025 season over Yuki Tsunoda to replace Sergio Perez.

Red Bull have now reversed their decision after the New Zealander’s struggles over the opening two race weekends.

Lawson, 23, has been demoted back to the junior Racing Bulls team, where he will race alongside rookie Isack Hadjar.

Team principal Christian Horner said that they had a ‘duty of care’ to protect their drivers.

He added as per a statement on X: “It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races and as a result we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch.

“We came into the 2025 season with two ambitions: to retain the World Drivers’ Championship and to reclaim the World Constructors’ title, and this is a purely sporting decision.”

ready for the challenge ahead

挑戦への覚悟はできている pic.twitter.com/T7pyPSi26R

— 角田裕毅/Yuki Tsunoda (@yukitsunoda07) March 27, 2025

What Went Wrong For Liam Lawson At Red Bull?

Red Bull’s decision to swap Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda comes after the former’s struggles in Australia and China.

Lawson was knocked out in the first stage of all three qualifying sessions this season – including one sprint session.

In China, Lawson was 20th and last in both qualifying sessions – compared to Max Verstappen who was second in sprint qualifying and fourth on the grid for the main race.

Verstappen is also second in the championship with 36 points, while Lawson is 17th and without a point.

Lawson itted after the Chinese Grand Prix that he ‘doesn’t really have time’ – indicating that he knew there was uncertainty over his future.

Teammate Verstappen came out to his defence insisting the Red Bull car was more difficult to drive than the Racing Bull which had been driven by Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar.

Verstappen was reportedly angry over plans to replace Lawson after just two races.

Red Bull’s History Of Demoting Drivers

Liam Lawson is the third driver to be demoted by Red Bull to their sister team since they entered the sport in 2005.

Red Bull replaced Daniil Kvyat with Max Verstappen in 2016 and then swapped Pierre Gasly with Alex Albon in 2019.

Other drivers have been booted out of a seat altogether from both Red Bull and their sister team.

Scott Speed and Sebastian Bourdais were dropped in the late 2000s by the Toro Rosso team – now known as Racing Bulls.

Kvyat lost his Toro Rosso seat in 2017 but returned in 2019. Nyck de Vries was given the boot in 2023 and replaced by Daniel Ricciardo – who similarly was replaced by Liam Lawson last year.

Lawson is the latest Red Bull driver to face a seat swap with Yuki Tsunoda replacing him.

Max Verstappen’s Teammates At Red Bull

Yuki Tsunoda is the latest to face the challenge of coming up against Max Verstappen after replacing Liam Lawson at Red Bull.

The closest any teammate has come to Verstappen at Red Bull is Daniel Ricciardo – although that was towards the beginning of the Dutchman’s F1 career.

Below, are the full statistics of how Verstappen’s teammates fared alongside him.

Driver	Races	Qualifying head-to-head	Race head-to-head	Race wins	Pole positions	Points
Daniel Ricciardo	58 (2016-2018)	Verstappen 34-24 Ricciardo	Verstappen 35-21 Ricciardo	Verstappen 5-4 Ricciardo	Verstappen 0-2 Ricciardo	Verstappen 608-590 Ricciardo
Pierre Gasly	12 (2019)	Verstappen 11-1 Gasly	Verstappen 11-1 Gasly	Verstappen 2-0 Gasly	Verstappen 1-0 Gasly	Verstappen 180-63 Gasly
Alex Albon	26 (2019-2020)	Verstappen 25-1 Albon	Verstappen 17-8 Albon	Verstappen 3-0 Albon	Verstappen 2-0 Albon	Verstappen 311-181 Albon
Sergio Perez	90 (2021-2024)	Verstappen 80-10 Perez	Verstappen 70-10	Verstappen 53-5 Perez	Verstappen 37-3 Perez	Verstappen 1,861.5-92 Perez
Liam Lawson	2 (2025)	Verstappen 2-0 Lawson	Verstappen 2-0 Lawson	No wins	No poles	Verstappen 36-0 Lawson

Why Did Red Bull Not Promote Yuki Tsunoda In The First Place?

Questions will be asked over why Liam Lawson was promoted over Yuki Tsunoda in the first place – after reversing the decision following just two races.

The pair raced alongside each other for 13 races across the 2023 and 2024 F1 seasons when Lawson replaced other drivers.

Tsunoda outqualified Lawson 11-4 (including sprint qualifying) and was ahead in races six times compared to Lawson’s four when both finished.

The BBC reported last year that Red Bull chose Lawson on the basis they believed Tsunoda didn’t have the ‘mental toughness to survive’ alongside Verstappen.