» Liam Lawson leaves Red Bull: How F1 ‘dream’ unraveled in 99 days

After only 99 days, Liam Lawson‘s “dream” Red Bull promotion became a nightmare — the 22-year-old the latest driver off the team’s conveyor belt of talent to wilt next to Max Verstappen.

Yuki Tsunoda, who was previously overlooked in favor of Lawson in December, will step up as Verstappen’s third teammate in four races from the Japanese Grand Prix.

So, how did it come to this? And where did it all go wrong for Lawson?

From his call-up to his demotion back to Racing Bulls, we take a look at his doomed short stint.

Day 1: On Dec. 19, 2024 — 11 days after concluding the season with Racing Bulls and with just 11 F1 races under his belt — Lawson was confirmed as Sergio Pérez‘s replacement at Red Bull, beating out Tsunoda. Lawson, grinning from ear to ear as he spoke to ESPN following the announcement, said the move was a “dream” but admitted it was “obviously going to be very challenging.”

“It’s probably the hardest place to be but it comes with the most opportunities,” he said. “There’s no one better to learn off, or be alongside [than Verstappen].

“I have a goal of winning world championships and that’s what I’m here to do. I want to get to a level to be able to do that as quickly as possible next year.”

Seat fit smiles #F1 || @LiamLawson30 pic.twitter.com/o39AY6CNpi

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 24, 2025

Day 37: After some much-needed time off ahead of the 2025 season, Lawson visited Red Bull’s Milton Keynes headquarters for the first time as a driver for the team. Lawson completed a seat fit in preparation for his rookie campaign and said: “It’s just cool to see everyone I’ve been working with for a few years. Now, to be an official driver, that’s exciting.”

At the wheel of the RB19 Liam took to the track for a pre-season test in Jerez, earlier this month #F1 || @LiamLawson30 pic.twitter.com/lMxCIyZNnC

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 24, 2025

Day 56: Lawson got his first taste of action for 2025 in Red Bull’s RB19 — one of the sport’s most dominant cars of all-time — in a private test in Jerez, Spain.

Day 63: The season had a unique big kick-off with a glitzy launch event at London’s O2 Arena, where Red Bull and all nine other teams revealed their liveries for the new campaign. Speaking to ESPN on the day, Lawson acknowledged the pressure that was imminently about to come his way and, interestingly given what we know now, that the first two races of the season would be tough due to the fact he’d never driven the tracks before.

“It’s extremely exciting to go into a season like this,” he stated. “At the same time, I know how much pressure comes with it, and how tough it’s going to be — especially starting the year at tracks I haven’t raced at before.”

He added that he had no specific goals for 2025: “It’s not something I’m putting a timeframe on. I’m not going in thinking I need to win a race within a certain number of races, or even this season necessarily. But my goal is clear — to win races and eventually a world championship. That’s what I’m working towards.”

Day 70: Lawson got his and Red Bull’s campaigns up and running at preseason testing in Bahrain, though a spin marred his morning session. Still, Red Bull didn’t seem overly concerned. “I think Liam’s had a good first official session for us and settled in well so far,” team boss Christian Horner said.

Lawson added: “It’s hard to tell where we are in terms of pace but the car feels good to drive and comfortable.”

Day 71: Lawson had the full day scheduled on day two of the three-day test, although again it wasn’t all plain sailing. There was very unexpected rain in the morning, before reliability issues in the afternoon that meant Lawson would head to Australia having completed just 149 laps in his new car. Only Lance Stroll (133) had fewer in Bahrain.

Lawson finished with the 11th fastest time of the test, but again, he drew praise from Red Bull. “Liam responded well today and his feedback was very close to Max’s,” technical director Pierre Wache said.

Day 86: Onto Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, and the struggles for Lawson were already clear to see. Lawson placed 16th and 17th in the opening two practice sessions, putting him on the back foot heading into the weekend.

Day 87: The problems worsened for Lawson the following day, with a power issue leaving him with no track time in final practice and he then qualified 18th. Lawson was even the butt of a joke from McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who suggested that Tsunoda, not him, deserved the Red Bull promotion.

“Yuki did a great job, [he’s] probably the guy that should be in the Red Bull if you look at how he’s performed,” Brown told Sky Sports after qualifying, where Tsunoda qualified fifth for Racing Bulls. “But they [Red Bull] seem to make some strange driver choices.”

Day 88: Lawson started his first race for Red Bull from the pit lane after changes were made to the car, but couldn’t make up ground in the race and then spun out in the rain when his team opted for a tyre strategy gamble.

“It’s difficult to blame him for that last spin,” Horner, still not overly concerned, said. “The one flash of light that he can take out of it is that, on the dry tyres, he actually posted the second fastest lap time of the grand prix; a 22.9 versus Max’s 23.0, Lando 22.1.

“[Melbourne] wasn’t representative of what he’s capable of.”

Day 92: Heading into the Chinese GP, Lawson was in defiant mood. “I couldn’t care less what Zak says to be honest,” he said of Brown’s comments the previous weekend. “I haven’t spoken to him, I don’t really think ever.” He also insisted he wasn’t already in a “spiral.”

“It’s important to have a good weekend because obviously that’s what we’re here to do,” he said. “I don’t think after one race we can go into a spiral, but obviously we all have high expectations anyway.”

Day 93: The following day, Lawson finished 18th in practice and — after running wide on his crucial lap — qualified last in a sprint qualifying session compared to Verstappen’s second. “We believe that he’s got the ability, he just needs a bit of time,” Horner said afterwards. The rumors, however, were already starting to grow in the paddock.

Day 94: Lawson made up six places in the sprint to 14th, which he still said was “not really acceptable.” What definitely wasn’t, was following it up with another 20th-place finish in qualifying.

Afterwards, Lawson said the fix to his issues was “time” — but added: “Unfortunately I don’t really have time.”

Meanwhile, Tsunoda was being directly asked about replacing Lawson in Japan, which he welcomed. “[I’d be] 100% [ready],” Tsunoda said. “I mean, the car is faster.”

Day 95: Lawson finished 12th in the Chinese Grand Prix, but even that point-less venture masked a few issues. He was more than a minute off teammate Verstappen, while he was lifted three places thanks to post-race disqualifications. Afterwards, Horner tellingly refused to confirm whether he would still be a driver for Japan. The writing was on the wall.

“You can see it’s very tough on him at the moment,” Horner said. He added to that Red Bull could not fight its rivals “one-legged.”

“I’m not stupid,” Lawson said. “I know that obviously I’m here to perform, and if I’m not doing that, I’m not going to be around.”

Announcing that @yukitsunoda07 will partner Max from the #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/Pz05P7cFKF

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 27, 2025

Day 99: Following intense speculation that followed China, Lawson’s demotion was confirmed. Red Bull called it a “purely sporting decision” to fix its troublesome car.

“We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car,” Horner said.