Liam Lawson protests against Red Bull breaking silence after his two-race exit - "I wasn't given time"

Liam Lawson raised his voice against the Red Bull Racing management for not giving him enough time behind the wheel. The team signed him for this season but were quick to replace him after the first two races, citing his uncompetitiveness.

The Kiwi driver was signed this season as Sergio Perez's replacement. He had previously driven for Racing Bulls' junior team and had proven to be a strong driver. However, his debut with RBR wasn't perfect. A drenched track in Australia saw him crash out in the later stages of the opening race, and he then finished 12th in China.

Even though these were his first races in a Red Bull, and he might have adapted to the car later in the season, the team decided to demote him back to VCARB. Although he wasn't exactly candid with his statements at the time, Lawson recently opened up about the situation, clearly mentioning that the team did not give him enough time.

"I think that was the biggest thing going into a team like that, in a car like that," he said (via PlanetF1). "It was going to take a bit of time to adjust and learn. With no proper testing, the issues in testing, the issues in Melbourne through practice… it wasn’t smooth and clean. I needed time, and I wasn’t given it."

Red Bull Racing replaced him with Yuki Tsunoda. However, he hasn't managed to pull off a strong result, either, revealing that the issue lay largely with the car. The team has dropped to fourth place in the standings, and Max Verstappen slips out of championship contention with every passing race.

---

Liam Lawson reflects on the tightly packed F1 schedule

Liam Lawson during the 2025 F1 Austrian Grand Prix (Getty Images)

There can be quite a few packed weekends of continuous racing for the drivers and teams. The 2025 season alone was packed with three different "triple headers," meaning three continuous weekends of racing. This can be rather challenging for the drivers, considering all the transportation and work that goes into a single weekend.

Sharing a reflection on the world of Formula 1, Liam Lawson revealed that he remains too focused on the present to think about his future in the sport.

"It is at the moment, yeah," he told F1. "I think the thing about F1 in general is you come in and there are so many races and so many weekends. You’re used to probably having a bit more time."

He then mentioned how difficult it can be for drivers to focus on anything other than racing during packed triple headers.

"Here, you’re forced to basically come out of a race weekend, especially on a triple-header, have a day to think about what just happened, and then you’re straight away thinking about the next race. You almost get lost in this world," Liam Lawson added.

Although he hasn't been the strongest with Racing Bulls as well, Lawson did manage to score points on two different occassions with the team. This also incliuded a surprising P6 in Austria.