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Liam Lawson says his demotion by Red Bull after just two races came as a total surprise.<\/b><\/p>\n
The New Zealander was sent to Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls,<\/a> after the Chinese Grand Prix, with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda moving in the other direction in time for this weekend’s race in Japan.<\/p>\n “It was definitely a shock, honestly. It’s not something that I saw coming,” Lawson told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n “The discussions we were having weren’t really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I expected.”<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n In China two weeks ago, he qualified last for both the sprint and the grand prix, before finishing the two races 14th and 12th.<\/p>\n 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”<\/a> signing Lawson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n