'It was definitely a shock' - Lawson rues Red Bull departure

The New Zealander was promoted from Racing Bulls to partner four-time world champion Max Verstappen ahead of the new campaign.

However, following disappointing performances at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix - failing to finish at the former - Red Bull team principal made the decision to replace Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda.

The 23-year-old had only driven in 11 Grands Prix prior to this season, and he felt he was not given enough time to adapt at the higher level.

"It was definitely a shock, honestly," he told Sky Sports F1. "It's not something that I saw coming.

"The discussions we were having as well, I think, weren't really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I sort of expected.

"Obviously, I would have loved more time. "It was a tough start. We had a rocky testing. We had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne with practice. And then, obviously, China was a Sprint.

Tearing it up in TokyoYuki Tsunoda, Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar kicked off the Japan race weekend with a special showrun#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/u0U5XvegmS

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2025

"I think going to places that I'd been before with the way the car was quite tricky, I think that would have helped and I would have loved that opportunity. But, it's not my decision, so I'm here to make the most of this one.

"A lack of time in the car is really the biggest thing for me that made it hard to adjust. Each session we were going out, we were sort of adjusting or getting used to something that was a little bit unknown. I just didn't have the time to do that."

Horner acknowledged Red Bull were asking for "too much too soon" from Lawson, but that the decision was made due to concerns he shared with the team's engineers.

"Of course, it's horrible because you're taking away someone's dreams and aspirations," the Red Bull team principal said. "But sometimes, you've got to be cruel to be kind, and I think that, in this instance, this is not the end for Liam.

"I was very clear with him, is that it's a sample of two races. I think that we've asked too much of you too soon.

"I think with everything that we saw in Australia and China, you could see that it was really affecting Liam quite badly.

"It was something that was very clear to the engineering side within the team, just how much Liam was struggling with it all, and you could see that weight upon his shoulders.