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As covered in your reel, Red Bull have announced that Yuki Tsunoda will replace Liam Lawson at the senior Red Bull Racing squad from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards, with the 24-year-old getting the nod to replace Lawson following a difficult opening two races for the New Zealander.
Lawson raced alongside Tsunoda in the latter stages of 2024 after replacing Daniel Ricciardo at the then-named RB team, and his performances were enough to earn him a seat at Red Bull Racing
Lawson’s impressive test in a Red Bull, along with a strong showing when he replaced Daniel Ricciardo for the final parts of last season at the sister teams, i.e. Racing bulls, was enough to convince Red Bull that he deserved a promotion as Max Verstappen’s new team mate in 2025 following the exit of Sergio Perez. Even though this had met a lot of backlash from the fans, as the seat was rightfully Tsunoda’s. Yuki had been consistently outperforming his team-mate for the whole season and that did not change even when Liam Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo at the racing bulls mid season. Infact, Yuki was so dominant and superior on the racetrack last season, that in numerous races he’s been spotted to drag such a slow car into the front of the field fighting with the pack for podium finishes. Yet, the seat was given to Lawson.
Liam-Lawson.
Although it is quite obvious that red bull do not have the fastest car on the grid and have lost their dominance on the track to McLaren and Ferrari, the Reigning world Champion Max Verstappen is getting the most out of the car and giving strong fights for the podium, Liam Lawson in the opening round of this year’s F1 Calendar, doesn’t seem to be able to get past Q1 sessions of qualifying. He is so slow compared to his teammate that Max is 7 Tenths of a second faster than him in a lap on older rubber. Lawson struggled to get to grips with the RB21 during the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix weekends, crashing out in the former amid treacherous conditions before crossing the line in P15th in Shanghai, which later became 12th following the disqualifications of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly. Lawson has been the last on the grid twice out 3 races (including the Chinese sprint race), starting dead Last and not making full use of the car he is in at all. Red Bull Team Principal states that , “If we wish to challenge for the constructor’s championship, the team needs to maximize their potential every weekend here-on-out.” being upset and unhappy with the down-beat performance of New-Zealander.
Liam-Lawson-Crashing-the-red-bull-racing-car
Hence, following the weekend at he Chinese grand prix and another horrendous display of performance, Rumours quickly mounted that the 23-year-old could be replaced at the team as early as Round 3 in Japan, and now it has been confirmed that Tsunoda will fill Lawson’s seat when F1 returns to Suzuka on April 4-6 – with Lawson returning to the Racing Bulls squad alongside another rookie and a promising young talent Isack Hadjar.
Yuki-Tsunoda
Sources say the shareholders, plus Team Principal Christian Horner and Red Bull Motorsport Adviser Helmut Marko, agreed unanimously that Lawson should go back to Racing Bulls with immediate effect, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, with Tsunoda stepping up to replace him. Lawson is still tremendously talented and has huge potential, as seen in the last season when he dragged His slower midfield sister team car and took the fight up against Sergio Perez, in the Senior Red Bull Team the but is not at all ready for one of the fastest machines on the track, showing his feisty and aggressive mentality and driving style.
Liam himself Confesses that The RB21 has a very small window to work with, and the car is unforgiving, but ultimately agrees that it is something that he has to get a grip on and there’s no-one else to blame or any other excuses. Part of the reason for the Kiwi’s unsuccessful attempts of really extracting the performance of the car, is that Lawson just did not get enough time with the car to understand how the car feels, reacts and behaves, and it was all too rushed and almost too bullish to put him into the Red Bull Seat.
Yuki-Tsunoda-driving-the-RB-team-car
It is believed though, that the switch could very well still benefit both the drivers. Lawson getting to handle the Racing Bull again while carrying his abilities and skills to build on what he has learnt so far, added with his competitiveness and incredibly high morale and motivation, we could see the return of his confidence and performance in his future drives. Whereas on the other hand, Tsunoda finally got the much awaited chance to redeem the empty Seat at Red Bull and drive alongside the flying Dutchman, and hit the ground running and shine on his debut, in no better style than at his home race, Suzuka on the following weekend. That’s exactly the chance Yuki has been given. So, the drama unfolds, at the Japanese Grand Prix the following weekend from 4th to 6th April, Stay tuned.
Written by Dhyey Parekh
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