Red Bull has made the switch that was anticipated with Sergio Perez stepping aside and Liam Lawson replacing him at the group’s parent Formula 1 team for 2025. But how did the situation reach a point where it had no choice but to dispense with Perez’s services and what are the reasons that Lawson was selected over Yuki Tsunoda?
Having survived a mid-season review, Perez had been adamant since the summer break that he would be racing with Red Bull in 2025. However, that was based on the contract that he signed earlier in the season rather than the results meriting his position.
The Mexican endured a dismal campaign as he trailed a gargantuan 285 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen, who sealed the title with two rounds to go. But despite the Dutchman’s lead over his closest rival ending at 63 points, Red Bull entered the final round not in contention to retain the Constructors’ Championship that it had held since 2022.
READ MORE – Liam Lawson promoted to Red Bull as Sergio Perez replacement
Perez looked as though he had turned a corner when the season began, coming home second behind Verstappen three times in the opening five races as Red Bull sustained its dominant edge over the rest.
However, the Miami Grand Prix proved to be a turning point as McLaren’s initial upgrade package helped propel Lando Norris to his maiden win and served as the moment when a team had the tools to challenge Red Bull.
But while Verstappen’s supreme excellence disguised Red Bull’s deteriorating troubles as he continued to rack up the wins, Perez’s results nosedived and he never recovered.
Even a new multi-term deal being announced in June couldn’t curtail his spiral and, having been handed a reprieve during the summer break, a meagre 21 points in the last 10 races of the year made his spot untenable.
Asked what had happened to Perez, Red Bull boss Horner said: “I think that’s the thing; I think that he’s not really quite sure.
“Of course the car was — it became more narrow in its performance window, and he struggled with that compared to Max. But obviously such an enormous gulf in points difference between the two drivers… he was struggling with that, and that of course then puts more pressure on him, and the harder you try, sometimes the slower you go. It became almost like a vicious circle for him.”
With Red Bull no longer boasting a pre-eminent package and encountering the same complications with updates that the opposition has under the current ground effect rules, Perez, whose last podium arrived back in April, had nowhere to hide.
The sudden purple patches that Perez had been able to produce when his back was against the wall on previous occasions didn’t arrive this time around, despite Red Bull stabilising the RB20’s issues with revised parts at October’s United States Grand Prix.
The writing was on the wall when Horner’s public backing dwindled as Perez concluded what was to be his final season with Red Bull with three non-scores in the last four rounds.
Looking past the striking statistics that encapsulated how disastrous his season was, the biggest indictment against Perez was that he was dropped even though there wasn’t a standout option to take his place.
Daniel Ricciardo, whose departure in 2018 sparked the second driver conundrum that Red Bull is still to resolve, was billed as the team’s insurance choice, but his failure to have the measure over Tsunoda meant he was ousted to grant Lawson his chance.
Lawson’s second stint with Red Bull’s sister squad, having deputised at five races when Ricciardo broke his wrist in 2023, has earned him the coveted gig in the senior setup.
Tsunoda has the right to be aggrieved. The Japanese racer’s 2024 was his most productive season to date as he outclassed the more established Ricciardo and also headed Lawson in their short stint together.
However, Red Bull has never been enamoured with promoting him up the ranks and even an impressive outing in the RB20 at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi was not enough to avoid him being overlooked.
Red Bull has never harboured doubts about Tsunoda’s speed, but it is believed the senior bosses retain reservations over whether he is consistent enough and has the temperament to thrive at the sharp end.
Lawson didn’t make a compelling case that he warrants a position at the top table in his late-season spell with RB, as Tsunoda out-qualified the Kiwi on all six occasions.
However, the margins between the two were narrower than the experience gap between them, with Lawson’s speed in race trim even surpassing Tsunoda’s, according to Horner.
“It was very, very tight between the two of them,” Horner told ESPN. “I mean, Yuki is a very fast driver. He’s got three or four seasons of experience now.
“He did a very good job in the tyre test for us in Abu Dhabi where the engineers were impressed with how he performed.
“With Liam, when you look and go into the analytics of his race, pace was slightly better in the races that he did,” he added. “His qualifying pace was very tight with Yuki, and you’ve got to assume that the potential with Liam having only done 11 Grands Prix, is he’s only going to get better and stronger.”
Unlike other teams up and down the pit lane, outright pace was not the outstanding criterion that Red Bull had to consider above all else during its latest driver deliberation. Instead, envisaging how an individual will handle Verstappen’s presence takes on as much significance at Red Bull in this age.
“There’s no doubt that racing alongside Max, a four-time champion and undoubtedly one of the greatest drivers ever seen in F1, is a daunting task, but I’m sure Liam can rise to that challenge and deliver some outstanding results for us next year.”
Verstappen has inked an indelible stain on several drivers’ records, with Perez the most recent to have his reputation tarnished when pitted against the reigning F1 champion.
Red Bull, though, believes Lawson has the mental resilience to best handle that fate.
Lawson hasn’t been overawed when he’s been thrown into the deep end mid-season, with his brash tactics in wheel-to-wheel combat earning the wrath of two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso on his return in Austin but receiving admiration at Red Bull.
“A couple of things have stood out with me with Liam – how versatile he is,” Horner pinpointed. “You put him into a situation, he gets on with it. If you remember his debut in Zandvoort after Daniel broke his fingers, he was racing against Max on his out-lap. He’s got that kind of gritty racer mentality.
“His race craft has been really one of his key strengths,” Horner continued. “So he’s not afraid to go wheel-to-wheel and even rub wheels where necessary. So I think he’s going to do a great job for us. The engineers have enjoyed working with him through the running that he’s done this year. He’s got a good work ethic as well.”
The team’s lingering concerns over Tsunoda’s broader skillset and the sense that Lawson holds the greater ceiling with time made the choice an obvious one for Red Bull.
With Perez’s results turning so dire, Red Bull has taken little risk on such a gamble. The sole question should be whether it has hedged the right bet through its Lawson pick.
The New Zealander has approached what he has described as the “biggest challenge” with the right mindset, recognising that he has a lot to learn to realise his own dreams.
“I mean, obviously, as Formula 1 drivers, we all have one goal that we share, and that’s winning a World Championship,” he admitted. “So that is my goal. And that’s been my goal since I was a kid and wanted to be a Formula 1 driver. And obviously now I’m in a great position.
“So it’s definitely not what I expect coming in. I don’t expect to come in and go straight away and win a world championship. I know that, you know, the team’s goal is obviously the Constructors’. And that’s what I’m here to do. I’m here to help achieve that. But obviously, personally, for me, it’s trying to be in a competitive position as quickly as possible. Obviously, I’ve got the best guy as my team-mate to learn from.”
Red Bull also appears keen to avoid the mistakes that plagued his predecessors. Horner has insisted that Lawson will be encouraged to grow into his new role rather than be focused on replicating the relentless brilliance Verstappen produces each week.
“I think the key thing is not to put too much pressure on him and not to put too much pressure on himself that he’s going out against the best driver of his generation,” he explained. “I think that he just needs to almost ignore the data of what’s going on Car 1 and just focus with his own engineering team, what he’s doing, and just do the best job that he can and he’ll be fine. And hopefully we can support him in that. Hopefully we’ll be able to provide a car that suits him as well as Max next year, and we’ll see how he goes.”
Having tried the external route with a tried-and-tested name in Perez, Red Bull has gone back to its roots with Lawson, who has expressed that coming through the Red Bull stable has helped prep him for this chance.
With less than a dozen F1 starts under his belt, though, time will soon tell whether Lawson is able to survive the ultimate baptism of fire in the Red Bull seat that has become renowned as a poisoned chalice.
READ MORE – Red Bull admits choosing Liam Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda was a ‘tight’ call
