‘Horrible’ – Christian Horner reveals heartache at ‘cruel’ sacking of F1 star and ‘taking away his dreams’
RED BULL team principal Christian Horner has admitted that he found it “horrible” axing Liam Lawson after just two races.
Lawson replaced Sergio Perez at Red Bull in December after finishing the 2024 season with Racing Bulls, the constructor’s sister team.
However, the 23-year-old found himself out of the seat last week after being axed just two races into the current campaign.
He will swap places with Yuki Tsunoda from this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix and return to Racing Bulls where he will partner rookie Isack Hadjar.
Horner, the chief decision maker at Red Bull, has admitted it was “cruel” demoting Lawson but claims it was for the driver’s own good.
The Brit told Sky Sports: “Of course, it’s horrible because you’re taking away someone’s dreams and aspirations, but sometimes you’ve got to be cruel to be kind, and I think that in this instance, this is not the end for Liam.
“I was very clear with him, is that it’s a sample of two races. I think that we’ve asked too much of you too soon.
“We have to accept, I think we were asking too much of him too soon.
“And so this is for him to, again, nurture that talent that we know that he has, back in the Racing Bulls seat, whilst giving Yuki the opportunity and looking to make use of the experience that he has.”
Horner went on to reveal that both he and the engineers at Red Bull were “concerned” about how much Lawson appeared to be struggling throughout the opening two race weekends.
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He continued: “I think with everything that we saw in Australia and China, you could see that it was really affecting Liam quite badly.
“We could have left it, and I think that Liam is a driver with talent.
“Maybe within half a season he would have got there, but we just don’t have that amount of time.
“It was something that was very clear to the engineering side within the team, just how much Liam was struggling with it all, and you could see that weight upon his shoulders.
“The engineers were coming to me very concerned about it, and at the end of the day, I think it was the logical thing to do.”
Lawson, meanwhile, didn’t expect the decision to be made so soon.
He said: “It was definitely a shock, honestly. It’s not something that I saw coming.
“The discussions we were having as well, I think, weren’t really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I sort of expected.
“Obviously, I would have loved more time.
“And I felt like with more time, especially going to places that I’d been before… it was a tough start.
“We had a rocky testing. We had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne with practice. And then obviously China was a Sprint.
“I think going to places that I’d been before with the way the car was quite tricky, I think that would have helped and I would have loved that opportunity.
“But obviously, it’s not my decision, so I’m here to make the most of this one.”