2 weeks Ago By Mark Whiley
Ted Kravitz said Red Bull would be "crazy" to oust Liam Lawson so early in the F1 season despite grilling Christian Horner on the Kiwi’s form. Lawson was promoted from Racing Bulls, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda , to replace Sergio Perez for the 2025 season after just 11 races at motorsport’s top table. But he crashed out on his Red Bull debut in Melbourne before qualifying last for both the sprint and the main event in China, finishing 12th in the race.
He has now been sent back to Racing Bulls, with Tsunoda – who has been with the junior team since 2021 – stepping up to partner Max Verstappen for round three in Japan. The brutal decision, so early in the season, has been heavily criticised, especially as Melbourne and Shanghai were circuits Lawson didn’t know. There were hopes he would have fared better at Suzuki, having raced there previously in Super Formula, Japan’s top single-seater series.
During what proved to be Lawson’s final Red Bull weekend, at least for now, Sky Sports pitlane reporter Kravitz reminded team principal Christian Horner that Perez had been paid up a year before the end of his contract following a torrid 2025. Speaking after China qualifying, Horner said: "It's been a tough day in the office for him today, so we'll have a good look at it and go through it and obviously try and give him the best car for tomorrow." Kravitz replied: “But you need him to score the Constructors’ [Championship] points.
You didn’t pay off Checo for this, did you? I mean, the point was to replace Checo with a quicker driver, and is he just not a quicker driver?” However, Kravitz still believes Red Bull should have shown more faith in Lawson. Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast before the decision was confirmed, he argued: “They’d be crazy to replace Lawson for Japan because Lawson knows Suzuka like the back of his hand and is clearly going to be better there. “He’s never driven in China and Australia and it [China] is a really tricky track to get the best out of.
He is seven-tenths behind Verstappen, which isn’t years in F1. It is years this year because the pack is so tight. That’s why he hasn’t got out of Q1.
“I just wonder whether Red Bull could diffuse the whole situation by saying, ‘We made the commitment, we got to where we got to with Checo [Perez], that’s the past. If it means we finish further down in the Constructors’ Championship, so be it. “We’re going to help him but it’s the Drivers’ Championship we’re after and we’re still going for that with Max’.
Red Bull could take the pressure off Liam by saying, ‘We’re backing our guy.’” Defending the decision to demote Lawson, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told the BBC : “His performance was unfortunately not good enough and that comes from self-confidence. “We were worried that his self-confidence is so damaged that he could not bring his normal performance.
We have to have two drivers for the constructors championship and also to support Max. Yuki has until the end of the season because we believe he can do the job.”.
