Lawson on the way out: New Zealand media unleashes on Red Bull

Brutal, relentless and merciless: the management of Red Bull leaves no room for feelings and Liam Lawson is the umpteenth young man to pay the price. The New Zealander is already in the hot seat and will be replaced by Yuki tsunoda from the Japanese Grand Prix, unanimously assure our colleagues from Canal+, Telegraaf and Sky Sports.

The announcement, which will come at the end of the week, is likely to be a headache for the Kiwi, who had a chance to show off his talent in a Red Bull. At the wheel of the car Austrian, he failed to stand out during his first two race weekends with three eliminations in Q1, a crash in Australia and two anonymous races in China.

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko decided not to give him any more time and to give a chance to Yuki Tsunoda, disappointed last year not to have been chosen against Lawson. While the Japanese will be enjoying the warm atmosphere of his homeland in a Red Bull at the Japanese GP, Liam Lawson will be back in the B team, Racing Bulls, with whom he contested his first eleven Grands Prix in Formula 1 and in 2023 2024.

"It's entirely Red Bull's fault, not Lawson's."

The precociousness of Red Bull's management's decision has already caused a stir in New Zealand, where the media are hounding the Winged Bull. "It's Red Bull, not the 23-year-old Lawson, who should be held responsible for the situation. How could anyone not see the enormous risks involved in signing him for 2025, when he had only 11 Grands Prix under his belt in two seasons with their junior team? It's almost inconceivable." storm Luke Slater in the columns of The New Zealand Herald. " Even Verstappen, one of F1's greatest drivers and one of the most naturally gifted men ever to hold a steering wheel, had twice as much experience as Lawson when he was promoted in 2016. Red Bull may be one of the most successful teams in F1 history, and Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, who oversees the young driver program, deserve credit for that. But signing Lawson is not the decision of a serious racing team.

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"It's astonishing that after promoting him with so little experience to begin with, they are considering not giving him the time he needs to adapt. continues our colleague. They left him terribly exposed. Lawson must be exasperated that Horner refuses to publicly support him after just two rounds. […] Lawson has been open, responsible, and honest about his performances so far. Whatever his fate, it's unlikely that Red Bull management will show the same responsibility. It didn't have to be this way. Lawson wasn't the only option to replace the ailing Sergio Pérez. In fact, he was probably the third-best choice. Carlos Sainz, at the end of his contract at Ferrari and multiple winner, should have been recruited. Even Yuki Tsunoda, coming off his fourth and best season in 2024 with Red Bull's junior team, would have been understandable. Instead, Red Bull felt Lawson was their best option to drive a problematic car, a car in which Pérez, despite all his experience and talent, sank like a stone.

Red Bull's decision is also "an opportunity" for Lawson

Luke Slater's words echo those of Bob McMurray, a former team boss and consultant to several New Zealand media outlets. "Liam Lawson drives for one of the most ruthless teams in Formula 1 when it comes to driver management. He has a kind of sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Like a poisoned chalice, with Helmut Marko as his boss, who doesn't tolerate failure easily." explains the analyst, who worked for McLaren à Stuff. " I think it's a ridiculous situation they've put themselves in and I think the situation is entirely Red Bull's fault and not Liam's at this point. It's well known that the car is difficult to drive."

Despite the severity of the decision, the New Zealand media are trying to see it as a positive outcome for Liam Lawson, who is returning to a team where the pressure is less and where he can flourish. Conversely, they are promising Yuki Tsunoda hell. "Red Bull Racing's unconfirmed decision to swap Lawson for Tsunoda represents a significant opportunity for the young New Zealander. writes Jessica Barnes for Velocity News. Some might see this as a bad thing, but it's a positive move for Lawson and a questionable and risky move for Tsunoda. By returning to Racing Bulls, Lawson will be able to focus on honing his skills without the immediate pressure of the Red Bull team. This move would not be a demotion, but a strategic and positive shift to foster his growth in a more welcoming environment.

Bob McMurray, this time interviewed by 1News, shares the opinion of his colleague. "What happens if Yuki Tsunoda, or whoever, gets in that seat and completely fails, while Liam gets back in the [Racing Bulls] car and does really well? McMurray asks. It's not a bad thing for Liam at all because he can say to them, 'Look, why did you feed me all these years just to put me in a car that doesn't hold up?' At Red Bull, they have absolutely no tolerance for failure. But I think they're responsible for this failure because the engineers just didn't give him a good car or the opportunity to drive the way he knows how.

Liam Lawson, whose departure is expected to be confirmed at the end of the week, will have the opportunity to make up for it in the 22 remaining Grands Prix this season, where he will return to Racing Bulls, with whom his first eleven races went much better.

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