Liam Lawson will be demoted to Racing Bulls for the third race of the season in Japan next week, with Yuki Tsunoda moving in the opposite direction to be Max Verstappen’s team-mate at the senior Red Bull team.
Telegraph Sport understands there are still details to sort out, so the switch has not yet been finalised, but the decision has now been made.
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, admitted in China on Sunday evening that he was weighing up whether to pull Lawson out of the firing line just two races into the new season.
The New Zealander has been under immense pressure following two poor race weekends. After crashing out of his Red Bull debut in Melbourne, the 23-year-old qualified 20th and last for both the sprint and main race in Shanghai last weekend, eventually finishing the grand prix a distant 12th.
“Liam is obviously, confidence-wise, struggling with the car at the moment, which is why we made some significant changes today to see if we could find a more confidence-inspiring set-up for him,” Horner said. “I think Liam still has got potential, we’re just not realising that at the moment. I think the problem for him is he’s had a couple of really tough weekends, he’s got all the media on his back.
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.
The standard chunk of Lorem Ipsum used since the 1500s is reproduced below for those interested. Sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 from "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" by Cicero are also reproduced in their exact original form, accompanied by English versions from the 1914 translation by H. Rackham.
“The pressure just naturally grows in this business, and I feel very sorry for him. You can see it’s very tough on him at the moment.
“He’s a young guy, we’ve got a duty to look after him and we’re going to do the best that we can to support him.”
It is understood the decision was made in a meeting between senior Red Bull figures in Dubai, the home of major shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya, on Tuesday.
Lawson’s swift demotion will raise eyebrows in the paddock and questions regarding Red Bull’s management.
The Kiwi was brought in to replace Sergio Perez, who was himself handed a new contract only last May. That deal was handed to him in the hope of inspiring him to greater heights. He was bought out of it in December after it became obvious that he could not live up to expectations.
There were calls at the time for Tsunoda to be given the Red Bull seat – the Japanese has consistently complained of being overlooked – but Lawson was given the nod on the strength of 11 F1 starts for Racing Bulls (previously AlphaTauri) spread across 2023-24.
In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport in China last week, Lawson said he did not have any sympathy for Tsunoda. “Honestly? No,” Lawson admitted. “You can’t in this sport, and anyway, if I look back over our career, I was team-mates with him in F3 and I beat him. In Euro Formula I was team-mates with him in New Zealand, and I beat him there. And then in F1 last season, I think honestly, if I look at all the times he got promoted instead of me in those early years, then no. He’s had his time. Now it’s my time.”
In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport in China last week
Lawson said he did not have any sympathy for Tsunoda. “Honestly? No,” Lawson admitted. “You can’t in this sport, and anyway, if I look back over our career, I was team-mates with him in F3 and I beat him. In Euro Formula I was team-mates with him in New Zealand, and I beat him there. And then in F1 last season, I think honestly, if I look at all the times he got promoted instead of me in those early years, then no. He’s had his time. Now it’s my time.”
