Liam Lawson: How was Red Bull’s ‘dream’ destroyed in 99 days?

After just 99 days, Liam Lawson’s “dream” rise to Red Bull became a nightmare and will now return to Racing Bulls.

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After just 99 days, the “dream” rise of Liam Lawson to Red Bull He became a nightmare: the 22 -year -old, the last pilot to leave the team’s talent chain, will wither with Max Verstappen.

Yuki Tsunodawho had previously been ignored in favor of Lawson in December, will assume the position of the third team companion of Verstappen in four races from the Japan Grand Prix.

So how did this situation get to? And where did everything bad to Lawson?

From his rise to his return to Racing Bullswe analyze its short stage condemned to failure.

Day 1: On December 19, 2024, 11 days after concluding the season with Racing Bulls and with only 11 F1 races under his credit, Lawson was confirmed as the substitute for Sergio Pérez In Red Bull, surpassing Tsunoda. Lawson, with a smile from ear to ear in statements to AM850 after the announcement, said the transfer was a “dream”, but admitted that “it was obviously going to be a great challenge.”

“It is probably the most difficult place, but it offers the greatest amount of opportunities,” he said. “There is no one better to learn or be next to (Verstappen).

“I have the goal of winning world championships and for that I am here. I want to reach the necessary level to be able to do it as soon as possible next year.”

Day 37: After a well -deserved rest before the 2025 season, Lawson visited the Red Bull headquarters in Milton Keynes For the first time as a team pilot. Lawson completed a seat adjustment in preparation for his debut season and said: “It’s great to see everyone I have worked during these years.” “Now, being an official pilot is exciting.”

Day 56: Lawson had its first sample of action for 2025 in RB19 of Red Bull, one of the most dominant cars of this sport of all time, in a private test in Jerez, Spain.

Day 63: The season had a unique start with a dazzling launch event at the O2 Arena in London, where Red Bull and the other nine teams revealed their designs for the new campaign. Speaking to AM850 that day, Lawson recognized the imminent pressure that was coming and, curiously, given what we know now, that the first two races of the season would be difficult because he had never run in those circuits before.

“It is extremely exciting to start a season like this,” he said. “At the same time, I know how much pressure it entails and how difficult it will be, especially at the beginning of the year in circuits where I have not competed before.” He added that I had no specific objectives for 2025: “It is not something that is fixing me. I do not think I have to win a race in a certain number of races, not even this season necessarily. But my goal is clear: winning races and, over time, a world championship. For that I am working.”

Day 70: Lawson launched his campaign and that of Red Bull in pre -season training in Baréin, although a spinning ruined his morning session. Even so, Red Bull did not seem too worried. “I think Liam has had a good official session for us and has adapted well so far,” said the team leader, Christian Horner. Lawson added: “It is difficult to predict our rhythm, but the car feels good at the wheel and comfortable.”

Day 71: Lawson had the full day scheduled on the second day of the three days of testing, although, once again, not everything was pink. There was unexpected rain in the morning, before reliability problems in the afternoon that meant that Lawson would arrive in Australia having completed only 149 laps in his new car. Only Lance Stroll (133) He had less in Baréin.

Lawson ended with the eleventh best time in the test, but, once again, he received praise from Red Bull. “Liam replied well today and his comments were very similar to those of Max,” said the technical director Pierre Wache.

Day 86: Rumbo to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, and Lawson difficulties were already evident. Lawson was 16th and 17th in the first two training sessions, which put him at a disadvantage for the weekend.

Day 87: The problems worsened for Lawson the next day, with a power problem that left him without time on track in the last training and then classified 18.º. Lawson was even joking by the executive director of McLaren, Zak Brownwho suggested that Tsunoda, not him, deserved the rise to Red Bull.

“Yuki did a great job; it is probably who should be in Red Bull if we look at its performance,” Brown told Sky Sports after the classification, where Tsunoda qualified fifth for Racing Bulls. “But it seems that (Red Bull) makes some strange pilot decisions.”

Day 88: Lawson began his first race with Red Bull from boxes after the changes in the car, but could not recover ground and then trumpered in the rain when his team opted for a risky pneumatic strategy. “It’s hard to blame it for that last spin,” said Horner, even without too much concern. “The only thing that can get this is that, with dry tires, he scored the second fastest round of the Grand Prix: 22.9 seconds against Max 23 and 22.1 in Lando.

“(Melbourne) did not represent what he is capable of.”

Day 92: Looking ahead to China GP, Lawson was challenging. “To be honest, I don’t care what Zak says,” he said about Brown’s comments from the previous weekend. “I haven’t talked to him, I think ever.” He also insisted that he was no longer in a “spiral.”

“It is important to have a good weekend because, obviously, that is what we are here to do,” he said. “I don’t think that after a race we can enter a spiral, but obviously we all have great expectations anyway.”

Day 93: The next day, Lawson finished 18th in training and, after getting out of his crucial return, he qualified last in a classification session to the Sprint, compared to the second position of Verstappen. “We believe it has the capacity, it only needs a little time,” said Horner later. However, rumors were already beginning to grow in the paddock.

Day 94: Lawson recovered six positions in the Sprint until the 14th place, which, according to him, “was not really acceptable.” What was definitely not, was to continue with another 20th place in the classification.

Later, Lawson said the solution to his problems was “time”, but added: “Unfortunately, I don’t have time.”

Meanwhile, Tsunoda was asked directly about the possibility of replacing Lawson in Japan, something that he welcomed with satisfaction. “It would be 100 % ready,” Tsunoda said. “That is, the car is faster.”

Day 95: Lawson finished 12th in the China Grand Prixbut even that adventure without points hid some problems. He was more than a minute from his Verstappen teammate, while he uploaded three positions thanks to disqualifications after the race. Then, Horner, revealing, refused to confirm if he would continue to be a pilot for Japan. The situation was clear. “You can see that it is having a very bad time at this time,” said Horner. He added that Red Bull could not compete with his rivals “to one leg.”

“I’m not dumb,” said Lawson. “I know that, obviously, I am here to give up, and if I do not, I will not be here.”

Day 99: After the intense speculation after China, Lawson’s descent was confirmed. Red Bull described it as a “purely sports decision” to fix its problematic car. “We recognize that there is a lot of work to do with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will be very beneficial to help develop the current car,” said Horner.