How the F1 grid reacted to latest ‘harsh’ Red Bull driver switch

Motorsport Week brings you a selection of what some of the Formula 1 grid had to say about the Red Bull driver switch between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

After two difficult race weekends, Lawson was ditched in favour of Tsunoda, with the Kiwi being sent back to Racing Bulls in a straight swap.

Lawson is yet another victim of the Milton Keynes squad’s ruthless approach to underperforming drivers, and its longstanding Japanese protege gets his big chance in-front of his home fans at Suzuka.

But with such a decision comes significant reaction, and some of the drivers lining-up alongside the pair this weekend weren’t shy in offering their opinions to media including Motorsport Week.

RelatedPosts

How ‘accepting help’ from McLaren boosted Lando Norris in F1 Austrian GP

2 hours ago

How the Austrian GP cemented F1 2025 as a two-horse race

16 hours ago

Lewis Hamilton says move is ‘pretty harsh’

The seven-time World Champion was asked if the decision came as a surprise. “I’m not surprised to see them move that early, no,” he replied.

“Both great drivers. I think we’ve got a lot of really great drivers here, particularly young, talented drivers.

“I think there’s naturally a lot of pressure on youngsters coming in and I think there’s no way you can get fully on top of a car which is known to be not the easiest car to necessarily drive. Just to get in two races was pretty harsh.”

Previous Red Bull drivers Albon and Gasly tip Lawson to ‘bounce back’

Albon is all too aware of how Red Bull operates – he was a casualty of it himself back in 2020, lasting only one full season after replacing another under-performer in Gasly the year before.

The Thai driver signalled positivity for Lawson, stating that the move will not affect his future in F1.

“I think that it’s not a career-ender for Liam at all,” Albon said. “It’s how you use this opportunity. He’s still young. He’s still inexperienced.

“I know Liam. I obviously raced against him in DTM. I know how quick he is and how quick he was in that series. I think he’ll bounce back, and he’ll be just fine.

Albon however did concede that the gap between Lawson and Max Verstappen was not a good reflection.

“You feel for Liam to a certain point. And I do think that it was a tough start. I think the season as a whole has become so tight now that you can’t have these races where you’re six, seven tenths off. You can’t afford to be that slow.

“And I think it’s just a difficult circumstance for him. It’s the final year of regulations where the cars have been optimised for their teams, for their drivers.”

Gasly said: “I wish Liam all the best. I can obviously relate to some things, and I wish Yuki all the best. I think it’s very difficult to judge anything from the outside.

“I think only Liam can know his situation and know all the details from it, and [people have] just got to respect that we’re trying our best with the tools we have.

“I’ve got no doubts that both of them are going to do really well, but yeah it’s not really for me [to comment on] because you never really know what’s going on.”

Underfire Doohan admits F1 is ‘a business’

Doohan himself has been the subject of continuing rumour in regards to his future with Alpine, as reserve driver Franco Colapinto continue to lurk in the shadows.

“You know, I had rumours that I wasn’t even going to drive before I drove,” the Aussie said.

“I think [Lawson] is an extremely, extremely talented driver. And for one reason or another has had a very hard time. But again, only two races. So it’s a shame.

“But I think, to be honest, it’s going to be more of a threat at RB than it potentially was at Red Bull.

“It’s a cutthroat sport, and especially in that situation, I don’t want to comment too much on it. But in a top team especially.

“This is Formula 1. It’s a business where they rely on performances and results. But, you know, he was in a very, very tricky situation and we know how tough that Red Bull is to drive.”

READ MORE – Red Bull: Liam Lawson ‘was a round peg in a square hole’ during failed F1 stint