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With Liam Lawson’s departure, Yuki Tsunoda is set to team up with Max Verstappen for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Formula One: Liam Lawson at Red Bull (AP)
Red Bull chief Christian Horner has claimed Liam Lawson’s last act for the team was not in vain. The New Zealand F1 star recently lost his place in Red Bull’s 2025 line-up to Yuki Tsunoda. Lawson failed to make it out of Q1 for the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix events, leading to the early season driver swap. Horner, however, explained that the 23-year-old’s display in Shanghai gave them ample information that would help better their performances in upcoming tournaments. “We got 56 laps worth of information with a radically different setup on the car,” he told Sky Sports F1, as per multiple outlets. “That gives huge information back into the factory, back into the system, as we’re looking to improve our performance in the forthcoming races,” Horner concluded.
Red Bull switched Liam Lawson to a pit lane start at the Shanghai International Circuit. They overhauled the car, which the New Zealand motorsport racer had dragged to 12th place after Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly’s disqualifications. “We decided to take him off the grid, out of parc fermé to try some radical changes on the set-up because you’re so limited in testing with these cars,” Christian Horner said about the move to take Lawson off the grid. “So it made sense to say, ‘Okay, we’re starting at the back. Let’s try and learn something out of today’. We’ve done that,” he added.
With Liam Lawson’s departure, Yuki Tsunoda is set to team up with Max Verstappen for the Japanese Grand Prix. Red Bull confirmed the 24-year-old racer’s arrival in an official post on Instagram. “Announcing that Yuki Tsunoda will partner Max from the Japanese GP,” the post read. Lawson had previously raced alongside Tsunoda towards the end of 2024. He had initially replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls before earning a promotion to Red Bull after Sergio Perez’s exit. The Japanese star will fill Lawson’s seat when Formula 1 action returns to Suzuka on April 6.
Yuki Tsunoda made his debut for the AlphaTauri squad in 2021. He has continued to develop as a top-tier racer across the past four years, outscoring his recent teammates Nyck de Vries and Daniel Ricciardo. Tsunoda put on a brilliant display in the 2024 campaign, scoring 30 of his team’s 46 points. As for Liam Lawson, the New Zealand racer will return to Racing Bulls. He will partner with rookie star Isack Hadjar for the rest of the season.
