Red Bull Director Defends Decision to Remove Liam Lawson from Red Bull

[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] March 23, 2025; Shanghai, CHINA; Liam Lawson during the F1 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Go Nakamura/Reuters via Imagn Images | Go Nakamura/Reuters via Imagn Images

Oliver Mintzlaff, Managing Director of Red Bull GmbH, has commented on the highly controversial decision to remove Liam Lawson from the senior Red Bull team.

In one of the most brutal actions taken against a driver, Red Bull pulled Lawson after only two race weekends and promoted Yuki Tsunoda, a move that has seemed overall to be the right one.

Mintzlaff spoke to the German news outlet Bild about the move, now that Tsunoda has completed three races in the car and Lawson has participated in two.

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“I understand them and find them justified," Mintzlaff said.

“Nevertheless, it was the right step. Formula 1 is a high-performance sport and its performance was not right.

“It would have been wrong to keep Liam in the car. With the ever-increasing pressure, we wouldn't have done him any favors.

Liam Lawson got a 10s time penalty cause of this incident....pic.twitter.com/kZpcORJDnB

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) April 20, 2025

“In the end, he also understood and accepted that. We are happy that we now have him back with the Racing Bulls.”

It has become difficult to assess how much better Tsunoda has been since the RB21 started performing better, beginning with the Japanese Grand Prix.

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Lawson could not get the car out of Q1, regularly finishing at the bottom and only managing to gain a few positions.

Tsunoda advanced out of Q1 in his debut race, earned his first points in the following race, and achieved back-to-back Q3 finishes in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Tsunoda had only a short time to prepare and had to step in during the first leg of a tripleheader, resulting in a challenging series of races.

Hands up if you’re ready to get back on track 🙋#F1 #VCARB pic.twitter.com/kPKyNenZLj

— Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team (@visacashapprb) April 26, 2025

Now, he will have time to settle into the team, getting a week off to learn more about the car and prepare for the Miami Grand Prix.

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Lawson must use this break to refocus and improve his performances to silence his critics, as his top result since returning to Racing Bulls is merely P12, and he has not yet earned points this season.

A future move back to Red Bull seems unlikely, so any impressive performances will allow him to potentially secure a racing seat at another team.

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