Barely three months ago, Yuki Tsunoda’s window to drive for Red Bull Racing in Formula One appeared to have closed. Despite putting forward a strong case through the 2024 season for its sister team, RB, Red Bull passed over Tsunoda when replacing Sergio Pérez. Instead, it promoted Tsunoda’s teammate Liam Lawson into the seat.

Liam Lawson made it clear that Red Bull demoting him after two rounds of F1 2025 was not something he saw coming at all. And as F1 2025 moves on to Suzuka, a venue which unlike Melbourne and China, Lawson knows very well,

The signs were there early that Liam Lawson was perhaps not mature enough to handle the job as Red Bull Racing teammate to four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen.