Liam Lawson’s time with the main Red Bull Formula 1 team didn’t go as planned. At the start of the 2025 season, he was given the chance to race in two Grand Prix weekends.

But sadly, things didn’t go well for him. He couldn’t get past Q1, and he didn’t score any points. In China, he had a particularly bad weekend as he was the slowest in both the Sprint and the main race. Because of this, Red Bull decided to replace him with Yuki Tsunoda, sending Lawson back to their junior team, Racing Bulls.

Lawson was surprised by the decision. Before the Japanese Grand Prix, where he will race again for Racing Bulls, he spoke to Sky Sports and said: “It was definitely a shock, honestly. It’s not something that I saw coming. The discussions we were having as well weren’t really leaning in this direction.” In simple words, he didn’t think the team was planning to drop him so quickly.

Red Bull advisor, Helmut Marko, said Lawson looked like a “battered boxer” and believed he had lost confidence, while team principal Christian Horner admitted that people in the team were starting to raise concerns about Lawson’s performance.

When Lawson was asked if he was upset about not being given more time, he said: “Honestly, yes. Obviously, I world have loved more time.” He explained that the first races were difficult for him, and that he would have done better at tracks he already knew. “It was a tough start,” he said. “We had a rocky testing. We had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne… China was a Sprint.” Sprint weekends give drivers less practice time, which made things even harder for him.

Lawson also added: “I would have loved that opportunity. But obviously, it’s not my decision, so I’m here to make the most of this one.” He knows he can’t control what the team decides, but he wants to do his best now that he’s back with Racing Bulls.