Liam Lawson says his demotion by Red Bull after just two races came as a total surprise.

The New Zealander was sent to Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls, after the Chinese Grand Prix, with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda moving in the other direction in time for this weekend’s race in Japan.

“It was definitely a shock, honestly. It’s not something that I saw coming,” Lawson told Sky Sports.

“The discussions we were having weren’t really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I expected.”

The 23-year-old was chosen by Red Bull ahead of Tsunoda to replace Sergio Perez, who left the team at the end of the 2024 season.

But he started his time in the seat poorly, qualifying 18th at the opening grand prix of the season in Australia before crashing out of the race in the rain.

In China two weeks ago, he qualified last for both the sprint and the grand prix, before finishing the two races 14th and 12th.

It was those results that saw team principal Christian Horner make the swift decision to bring in Tsunoda, with motorsport director Helmut Marko saying the team “made a mistake” signing Lawson.