Shafted star reveals blindsiding as RB boss returns fire with brutal ‘weakness’ claim

Liam Lawson says his Red Bull axing after just two races came as a “shock” as team boss Christian Horner shed further light on the circumstances that led to the ruthless decision.

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Lawson was only just promoted to the team from Racing Bulls in December, but after dire performances across the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, has been replaced by Yuki Tsunoda for this weekend’s event in Japan.

The breakneck speed in which Red Bull saw Lawson as a future talent, and potential heir to Max Verstappen’s throne, to losing all confidence in him stunned the F1 world.

That included Lawson, who detailed his surprise while speaking to Sky Sports in Japan on Wednesday.

“It was definitely a shock, honestly,” Lawson said. “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.”

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Lawson admitted that he was “frustrated” by not being given more time by Red Bull to re-prove his credentials.

What also worked against the Kiwi was the fact he had never driven the circuits in Melbourne or Shanghai. Meanwhile, since the Chinese GP weekend featured a sprint, he had two less practice sessions to get up to speed.

But team boss Horner revealed that the team, after just two races, had been given a concerning insight into Lawson’s psyche that rapidly grew doubt he could get up to speed.

“I think with everything that we saw in Australia and China, you could see that it was really affecting Liam quite badly,” Horner told Sky Sports.

“We could have left it, and I think that Liam is a driver with talent. Maybe within half a season he would have got there, but we just don’t have that amount of time.

“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.”

Nonetheless, Lawson feels like Red Bull jumped the gun in bumping him back to the Racing Bulls sister team.

He cited the fickle nature of Red Bull’s 2025 car, which has a small operating limit which only the freakish talent of Verstappen has been able to handle.

“The car is hard to drive,” he said. “But we were going through a process of making that adjustment.

“Each session we were going out, we were sort of adjusting or getting used to something that was a little bit unknown. It’s not so much a driving style or something like that. It’s just literally adjusting. And for me, I just didn’t have the time to do that.

“But obviously, it’s not my decision, so I’m here to make the most of this one.”