Red Bull cite ‘duty of care’ but will Yuki Tsunoda suffer the same fate?

With one fell swoop of the axe, Liam Lawson has become the latest driver to fall victim to Red Bull’s ruthless ways.

On Thursday morning, Lawson’s expected demotion back to Racing Bulls - Red Bull’s sister team - was officially confirmed with immediate effect just two races into the 2025 season following a torrid start.

Yuki Tsunoda will move in the opposite direction as part of Red Bull’s latest driver swap to partner Max Verstappen from the Japanese Grand Prix.

Red Bull have history of making cut-throat decisions relating to their driver pool ever since joining the F1 grid back in 2005.

The most notable recent examples include Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, all of whom were ruthlessly demoted or ditched altogether after short spells with the team.

Not none of them compare to Lawson, who’s two-race cameo for Red Bull will go down as one of the shortest stints in F1 history.

What is going on at Red Bull?

Firstly, let’s start with some background. Bar the case of Kvyat, whose Red Bull exit paved the way for Verstappen’s incredible rise, there has been a common denominator behind the decisions.

Both Gasly and Albon failed to perform suitably alongside Verstappen and the same fate eventually befell Sergio Perez after an initially positive start which saw the Mexican last four seasons before he got the boot.

For several years, Red Bull’s car has been difficult to drive. Verstappen, unlike his past four teammates, has been able to cope with the tricky characteristics.

For much of Perez’s stint with the team, Red Bull had a dominant car, especially in 2022 and 2023, enabling the team to charge to back-to-back double world championships - albeit largely thanks to Verstappen’s phenomenal efforts.

But things changed last year. Red Bull’s car competitiveness faded and after a dominant start, Verstappen could only win twice in the final 14 races of the 2024 season, though he was still able to clinch a fourth successive drivers’ title.

In contrast, Perez struggled and endured a woeful season. His failures were largely to blame for Red Bull losing their grip on the constructors’ championship trophy and his contract was terminated a year early.

Perez’s downfall resulted in Lawson getting his short-lived opportunity, but the 23-year-old Kiwi could not get to grips with the RB21, which is proving even more tricky to handle than its predecessor.

Verstappen has a very particular driving style and innate ability behind the wheel of an F1 car. He likes a pointy turn-in and can deal with a loose rear-end, something his teammates simply cannot handle.

As a result, he has managed to extract the maximum from a car he believes may only be the fourth fastest - while other observers have suggested it is not even that competitive. The four-time world champion has dragged the RB21 to second and fourth-place finishes - and has not qualified lower than P4 on the grid - to sit second in the drivers’ standings on 36 points.

In contrast, Lawson has zero points to his name and had been eliminated in the first part of all three qualifying sessions he had contested, ending up slowest of all in two of them.

The early state of play has left Red Bull feeling like they have no choice but to make a brutal call which is unprecedented even by their standards.

Is Yuki Tsunoda already doomed to fail?

Tsunoda is now tasked with becoming Verstappen’s fifth teammate since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018.

The 24-year-old Japanese driver, who was shunned by Red Bull over the winter when the team instead opted to promote Lawson, has now landed his dream seat, but it has also become F1’s poisoned chalice.

Lawson’s mental strength and resilience was outlined as being a key factor that saw him get the nod over Tsunoda despite only having 11 grand prix starts spread over two years under his belt.

Just three months and two race weekends later and Red Bull now believe the more experienced Tsunoda is the answer to their second driver conundrum.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has cited a “duty of care to protect and develop” their drivers, suggesting that was behind the decision to take Lawson out of the spotlight and help him regain his mojo.

That may be true to some extent; the Racing Bulls has been branded an easier car to drive, and Lawson will be in a less-pressured environment. However, there is no escaping the humiliation of losing the seat he worked so hard to get so soon, an action which will surely obliterate what was left of his fast-dwindling confidence.

No team in recent memory has shattered the confidence of so many drivers, in such a short space of time, as Red Bull.

Away from the Red Bull pressure-cooker, Albon and Gasly have gone on to rebuild their careers and flourish at Williams and Alpine respectively, suggesting Red Bull were wrong to not give them more time.

Tsunoda insists he is “100%” ready for the shot he has long wanted, but there is no denying the scale of the task he now faces, as well as the immediate pressure and weight of exception that will come as he makes his Red Bull debut on home soil.

Perhaps it will be fifth time lucky for Red Bull in their disastrous search for a second driver. Tsunoda may cope better with the RB21 and be able to handle the daunting challenge of going up against Verstappen, but there is a real risk he just ends up being discarded like so many before him.

There is no doubt about it; Red Bull are taking Lawson out of the frying pan and casting Tsunoda into the fire.

What will Red Bull do if this doesn’t work?

And if this gamble doesn’t work, what will Red Bull do then?

Red Bull have pretty much exhausted their young driver pool. Hadjar is next in line after Tsunoda but the 20-year-old Frenchman is only two races into his rookie season, while Red Bull’s next exciting protege, Arvid Lindblad, doesn’t turn 18 until August and is therefore too young to race in F1 currently.

Ricciardo, now enjoying a slower pace of life with his new wine project back in his native Australia, is unlikely to fancy a return to the team after being burned last year.

Red Bull understandably throw their backing behind Verstappen in the drivers’ championship and they don’t want to upset the applecart by bringing in a potential threat to the Dutchman, especially at a time when his future is the subject of continued speculation.

But Red Bull also can’t seem to find a driver who can back up Verstappen and bring home the points required to be a factor in the battle for the constructors’ championship.

Carlos Sainz was seen by many as being that solution. The four-time grand prix winner was literally there for the taking, but Red Bull opted against snapping him up when they had the chance. Instead, Red Bull handed Perez a new deal - another hugely questionable decision - while Sainz went on to join Williams after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton.

Ultimately, Red Bull only have themselves to blame for the mess they find themselves in.