Yuki Tsunoda will race for Red Bull next week from his home Japanese Grand Prix Formula 1 with the fighting New Zealand Liam Lawson degraded to sister racing bulls in direct swap.
Lawson, preferred before the more experienced Tsunoda, when the former Red Bull champions dropped Mexican Sergio Perez at the end of last year, must still shoot as a teammate of four -time world champion Max Verstappen.
Tsunoda started the season strongly and shrugged the early career legends for being exciting and unpredictable. A 24 -year -old itchs the chance to show what he can do in the best team.
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“It was difficult to see Liam fighting with RB21 at the first two races, and as a result, we decided to make a premature transition together,” team chief Christian Horner said on Thursday.
“We came to the 2025 season with two ambitions; to keep the World Championship in the driver and regain the title of designers of the world, which is a purely sports decision.
“We acknowledge that RB21 needs to do a lot of work and Yuki experience will show very beneficial in the development of the current car,” said British.
“We welcome him in the team and look forward to seeing him behind the wheel of RB21.”
Tsunoda was supported by Honda’s career, Red Bull’s partner until the end of this season and also owners of the Suzuka district, who hosts the Japanese Grand Prix on April 6.
Honda, however, in 2026 passed to Aston Martin, and the future of Tsunoda after this year looked uncertain with last year’s teammate Lawson on him and the Japanese repeatedly nudged.
Horner questioned the feeling of maintaining Tsunoda after 2025 at Racing Bulls, given that the main purpose of the team is to prepare young drivers up, with others in the pipeline.
“You can’t have a driver for five years in the Support Team team. You can’t always be bridesmaids. You have to let them go or look at something else at that moment,” Horner told reporters in December.
“I think he’s very determined. He knows things are changing very quickly,” Horner added. “Who would have thought we were going to sit here that Liam Lawson was our driver for 2025?”
Thursday’s decision, which will be considered brutal after only two races, added Lawson to the list of young drivers who were found and were sent after the release next to Verstappen.
Alex Albon, now in Williams and Pierre Gasly, racing for Alpine, there are two such drivers who have rebuilt their reputation after leaving Red Bull.
After last weekend, Horner said last weekend last weekend that Red Bull would support Lawson as best he could, and repeated this sentiment.
“We have the obligation to care for the protection and development of Liam,” he said.
“And together we see that after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly to gain experience because he continues his career F1 with … Racing Bulls, an environment and a team that knows very well.”
Lawson joins the French rookie Isack Hadjar in the Italian team.
Published:
Sabyasachi Chowdhury
Published on:
27. March 2025
