• Red Bull Racing demoted Liam Lawson to the junior side, replacing him with Yuki Tsunoda. 
• Lawson has broken his silence for the first time since the reports, saying the decision was “tough”. 
• A commentator has criticised Red Bull’s “duty of care” claim, suggesting Lawson should leave the team. 

Liam Lawson has broken his silence following Red Bull Racing’s decision to demote the Kiwi driver to the junior side. 

Lawson lasted just two grands prix before Formula One giants Red Bull decided to take him out of the firing line. Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda will take his place at Red Bull. 

Lawson said on Instagram that being part of the Red Bull racing team had been a dream of his since he was a kid. 

“It’s tough, but I’m grateful for everything that’s brought me to this point. 

“To every one of you who’s stood by me, thank you for all the support it means the world.” 

He shared several photos of him during his time with the team and a childhood drawing showing him in his dream job as a “F1 driver”. 

His girlfriend, Hannah St John, shared her support for him in the comments. 

“Head up my love and show them what they’re missing.” 

‘Duty of care’ claim questioned, calls for him to leave Red Bull 

A commentator has said dropping Lawson is not showing the “duty of care” the team’s boss claims. 

BBC Formula One correspondent Andrew Benson told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that the “duty of care” line said by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was a charade. 

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He suggested Lawson should “get out of the Red Bull driver fold as soon as he can”. 

“The duty of care is to give him a chance to try…put your arm around his shoulder, talk to him about what’s going wrong.” 

Liam Lawson. Photo / Red Bull 

Benson said it was obvious Lawson was struggling to work the car over the last few weekends calling him a “rabbit in headlights”. 

He said the decision to drop Lawson might have “shattered his dreams” but hoped the Kiwi would have a positive outlook on the situation. 

Benson said other drivers have bounced back from worse and he should still be able to maintain a full successful career if he performs strongly with the Racing Bulls. 

He said no assumptions should be made about teammate Max Verstappen’s feelings before he has a chance to speak in Japan next week. 

Verstappen, along with three other high-profile drivers, liked an Instagram post accusing Red Bull of “bullying” Liam Lawson. 

Max Verstappen shown liking the post by Van der Garde. 

However, he said Verstappen made it clear last weekend that he believed the car was at fault, not the driver. 

Formula One journalist Thomas Maher told Newstalk ZB’s Andrew Dickens after speaking to both teams as the story broke, the feeling is that it was all “a little bit too much too soon” for Lawson. 

“The safest thing to do to protect Liam and to look after his future, his mentality, his mindset, his competitiveness, is to drop him back. 

“[Lawson] obviously struggled a little bit for performance over the two opening weekends of the 2025 championship in Australia and China... there was nothing to suggest that Liam was going to be able to turn it around in the short term.” 

He said members of Lawson’s camp told him that they also believed this was the right move for the young Kiwi. 

The switch between Lawson and Tsunoda is effective immediately and means Tsunoda will be behind the wheel of the notoriously difficult RB21 for his home race at Japan’s Suzuka circuit at the start of next month.