Lawson's first words on 'tough' demotion as Marko admits Red Bull 'mistake'

Liam Lawson has described losing his "dream" Red Bull seat as "tough" but thanked supporters for standing by him ahead of his return to Racing Bulls.

Lawson has returned to Red Bull's junior team ahead of next week's Japanese Grand Prix, with Yuki Tsunoda moving in the other direction to take his place in the seat next to Max Verstappen, after just two troubled races of the new F1 season.

In his first public message since news of the sudden swap emerged, the 23-year-old wrote in a post on Instagram: "Being a Red Bull Racing driver has been my dream since I was a kid, it's what I've worked towards my whole life.

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"It's tough, but I'm grateful for everything that's brought me to this point. To every one of you who's stood by me, thank you for all the support it means the world.

"Thank you Visa Cash App Racing Bulls for the warm welcome, I'm excited and ready to go to work at one of my favourite places [Japan]."

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Lawson's Instagram post contained two images from the New Zealander's childhood.

The first was a report from a school presentation featuring an image of a young Lawson next to a book opened on a page about a racing driver, while the second was seemingly a drawing of what he wanted to be when he grew up - an F1 driver, which was coloured in Red Bull-like overalls.

With his dream of driving for Red Bull's multiple title-winning team over for at least the time being, Lawson returns to Racing Bulls where he enjoyed a promising start to his F1 career across 11 races in 2023 and 2024.

Unlike the season's first two rounds in Australia and China, Lawson has driven at Japan's challenging Suzuka circuit before. He raced there three times during his single season of Japanese Super Formula in 2023, while he also raced in that year's Japanese Grand Prix too during an initial five-race cameo for Red Bull's junior team standing in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo.

Marko: Lawson lost confidence - but admits Red Bull 'mistake'

Writing in his regular column for the Red Bull-owned Speedweek website, motorsport advisor Helmut Marko - who also heads up the company's young driver programme - shed further light on their rationale behind the brutal decision, saying Lawson had lost confidence after his troubled weekends in Australia and China.

"In the first race weekend in Australia, Liam suffered a turbo failure in the third practice session and couldn't complete a single lap. From that moment on, the pressure on him increased even further. And so mistakes crept in. This trend continued in China," wrote Marko.

"We had to act before Liam lost his confidence completely. In this context, we mustn't forget - his career isn't over; he's back driving for Racing Bulls, a team with a car that's always capable of scoring points; a car that's also significantly easier to drive; and ultimately, a team where he won't be measured against Max Verstappen.

"Another problem, and one that Sergio Perez, with all his experience, had to grapple with in 2024, is that the Red Bull Racing car, with its narrow optimal operating range, is a difficult car to drive. Furthermore, we're two to three tenths of a second behind the front runners, which makes it even more difficult.

"Overall, Lawson's confidence has steadily diminished; that was clearly visible."

The swap came just 99 days after Red Bull had announced their decision promote Lawson over the more-experienced Tsunoda to the seat being vacated by Perez despite the former competing in just 11 grands prix up to then.

"Why wasn't Tsunoda given preference from the start? This is because Yuki's career often had ups and downs; he didn't exactly have a reputation for reliability and consistency," wrote Marko.

"But now he's made a leap in his development, including in terms of physical preparation.

"Yuki delivered impressive performances in the first two race weekends [of 2025]. So what distinguished Lawson in the second half of the 2024 season, we now see in Yuki."

On team leader Verstappen, whose official Instagram account on Thursday 'liked' a post from former Dutch F1 driver Giedo van der Garde criticising Red Bull's handling of the situation and showing support for Lawson, Marko said a meeting held earlier this week at their Milton Keynes base involving the world champion and his engineers "explored how and when" Red Bull "will have a winning car again".

He said the team were "able to show Verstappen the general development direction of the race car and which specific improvements are being made".

In a separate interview with BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday, Marko admitted "yes, I would say we made a mistake" in their original decision making around Lawson and Tsunoda.

He said that Tsunoda would now have "until the end of the season" to prove himself in the seat, which he backed the Japanese driver to do, while also saying he expected Lawson to make an impact back at Racing Bulls.

'No secret all top drivers have performance clauses...'

Marko also said the team were focused on improving their car to help win Verstappen a record-equalling fifth successive drivers' title this year.

But, amid long-running speculation about the Dutchman's long-term future at the team despite a contract that runs to 2028, Marko added: "There is so much motivation to achieve this fifth title.

"We also know if we don't deliver for Max, it's no secret all the top drivers have performance clauses in their contract. But we want to win this title."

Formula 1 heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on April 4-6, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - No contract, cancel anytime