After Yuki Tsunoda was promoted to Red Bull, his former team manager paid a heartfelt homage to the Japanese driver.
Liam Lawson’s poor start to the season has now been confirmed to have been replaced by Tsunoda at the Formula 1 giants.
Despite entering the new season with a lot of confidence, Lawson found it difficult to get the hang of the car after replacing Sergio Perez during the off-season.
The team took severe measures after a terrible performance in the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, which followed a DNF on the opening day in Melbourne.
Tsunoda backed to hit new heights at Red Bull
Lawson will now return to Racing Bulls, where he will once again work under team principal Laurent Mekies, who wished Tsunoda well in an official statement, as he heads in the opposite direction
Tsunoda raced with the Faenza outfit for four full seasons, accumulating 96 championship points in his time spent with the team.
Appearing on the team’s Instagram page, Mekies wrote: “We’re incredibly proud of Yuki earning his well-deserved move to Oracle Red Bull Racing!
“His progress last year, and more recently from the very start of 2025, has been nothing less than sensational.
“Personally, and collectively, it has been an immense privilege to witness those progresses for all of us in Faenza and in Milton Keynes.
“Yuki’s energy and positivity has lightened up every corner of our factories and of our garage and he will always be a Racing Bull! We wish him all the success he deserves at ORBR.”
Tsunoda now faces the huge challenge of bringing in big points for a team which – other than those gained by Max Verstappen – has largely failed to do so over the past 12 months.
They head to next week’s Japanese GP already 42 points behind championship leaders McLaren, and need to start improving or face being eliminated from contention.
