Who Could Replace Liam Lawson? Every Possibility As Red Bull Assess Their Options 634y28

After a nightmare start to his first season at Red Bull, we’re taking a look at who could replace Liam Lawson if his team decide to pull the trigger and drop him mid-season.

We may only be two races into the new season, but Liam Lawson’s future at Red Bull already looks to be in serious doubt.

Red Bull are believed to be seriously considering Lawson’s position in the team and are extremely concerned with his performances so far.

The Kiwi driver, 23, replaced Sergio Perez for the 2025 season, but has not scored a point across the opening two weekends.

More worryingly, Lawson has been eliminated in Q1 during all three qualifying sessions.

The youngster’s lack of pace has been so alarming that Red Bull opted to break Parc Ferme regulations and take the penalty of a pit lane start so they could alter his setup at the weekend.

But even that had no real impact, with Lawson finishing 15th on the road at the Chinese Grand Prix.

This was upgraded to 12th after the disqualification of both Ferrari’s and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, but even that didn’t get Lawson into the points.

With Red Bull no strangers to axing underperforming drivers mid-season, here’s a look at who could replace Liam Lawson.

Who Could Replace Liam Lawson At Red Bull? 56624m

Yuki Tsunoda 1c2p43

The most obvious option to replace Lawson and by far the most likely to happen is Yuki Tsunoda.

According to reports, Red Bull are considering an immediate swap ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

This would see Lawson demoted back to the junior Racing Bulls team, with Tsunoda promoted to Red Bull.

Japanese driver Tsunoda, 24, was overlooked for the senior race seat over the summer, with Red Bull preferring the much less experienced Lawson.

But with Lawson having just 11 grand prix to his name ahead of this season, that decision looks to have badly backfired.

Could Red Bull therefore it their mistake and opt for Tsunoda instead?

His performances so far have been excellent. Following a fifth-placed qualifying position in Australia, he started eighth in the sprint and ninth in the grand prix in Shanghai.

And what better way to get the Japanese crowd on side than by putting their local hero in your car ahead of the next race at Suzuka?

Isack Hadjar 5b1x2z

Although Tsunoda appears in pole position to replace Liam Lawson, his young RB teammate Isack Hadjar can’t be overlooked either.

The 20-year-old French driver was the Formula 2 runner-up last season, and has impressed in F1 so far.

After crashing out in Melbourne, he bounced back well to qualify seventh for the Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Tsunoda.

Red Bull boss Helmut Marko has added to speculation the Hadjar might get the senior team seat with his comments after qualifying in Shanghai.

He said: “Let’s look at the positives: Isack Hadjar, who has never driven on this track before, is banging out incredible times in his second race, making no mistakes.

“What he has shown so far is absolutely fascinating. The sun [Hadjar] and the shadow [Lawson] are close together and we’ll see what happens.”

From the outside, it looks foolish to throw a rookie into what is almost certainly the most pressurised seat in F1, with the most difficult car on the grid to drive, and a reigning four-time world champion teammate in Max Verstappen.

But when have Red Bull ever made the sensible call? Tsunoda looks more likely, but don’t count out Hadjar yet.

Franco Colapinto 3x1u4c

The two RB drivers are the favourites to replace Lawson, but there is a third contender.

Tsunoda and Hadjar are the more realistic options to take the Red Bull seat, but there is a chance Lawson gets dropped from F1 entirely.

Red Bull may decide that the best thing for Lawson is to take some time away from the spotlight, and move him down to a reserve driver role.

This would necessitate a new driver coming in to take whichever Racing Bull seat is left open after one of their drivers is promoted.

And who better than Franco Colapinto?

The current Alpine reserve driver had a fantastic cameo with Williams at the back end of last season.

So impressive was the 21-year-old Argentine that many were calling for him to get a full-time seat this year.

Red Bull themselves are said to have held an interest, and could make a move for Colapinto if they need a new driver in a junior race seat.