Max Verstappen allegedly has a differing opinion on Red Bull’s choice to replace Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda just two races into the season, despite having previously endorsed the New Zealander.
Max Verstappen is said to be upset with Red Bull’s choice to dismiss Liam Lawson following only two races of the 2025 F1 season.
The four-time world champion will start next to Yuki Tsunoda at the Japanese Grand Prix after Red Bull executives opted to reassign Lawson back to the Racing Bulls team.
Lawson was unable to score any points in the first Grand Prix races and the sprint race in China, as Red Bull demonstrated their ruthless attitude toward drivers once more.
Although the Kiwi had a terrible beginning, Verstappen reportedly disagrees with the choice to dismiss him, even with the harm it has caused to Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship ambitions.
The Mail reports that a source near Red Bull has revealed that Verstappen is unsettled by Lawson’s dismissal. The unnamed source allegedly stated: “It is completely unjust to treat Liam in this manner.
You need to provide him with more than two races to demonstrate his abilities, considering he has dedicated his entire life for this chance. There’s no dispute that he may not have performed well. However, to abandon him so quickly is really wrong. “It has the appearance of a disorganized team.”
Additionally, the Dutch outlet De Telegraaf has stated that Red Bull’s harsh choice to dismiss Lawson has caused Verstappen to feel frustrated.
The report claims: “It’s easy to speculate how Verstappen feels about Red Bull’s management choice to sideline Liam Lawson after just two races in favor of Yuki Tsunoda.
The Limburger [referring to Verstappen’s home region in Belgium] also opposes the team management’s choice to intervene this early.
Verstappen had earlier supported Lawson during his unsuccessful transition phase from the sister team to Red Bull, stating: “That Racing Bulls car is simpler to handle than ours.” I observe that when I communicate with Liam.
“Last year, I believed the gap between him and Yuki wasn’t very large.” If not, the team wouldn’t have decided to include Liam at Red Bull.
Speaking after making the decision, Red Bull Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner stated: “It has been hard to watch Liam face challenges with the RB21 in the initial two races, and therefore we have together decided to implement an early change.”
He mentioned: “We are responsible for safeguarding and nurturing Liam, and together, we believe that following such a challenging beginning, it’s wise to move swiftly so Liam can acquire experience as he progresses in his F1 journey with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, a team and environment he is quite familiar with.”
