EXCLUSIVE! Liam Lawson on joining Red Bull and working with Max Verstappen 🤝

[@fezza__]

All the best to him, but I think Yuki has to feel slight betrayal from RB

[@scottmeredith3359]

Maybe he shouldn’t have planted so many doubts in the minds of RB management. Trying to kill Daniel on a cooldown lap can’t have helped the case that he can deal with his team favoring the other driver, which would happen all the time at Redbull.

[@FEARYOYOYO]

Betrayal? In F1? I did not know this was the clown fish club

[@Sorcy-q3e]

Yuki can be happy to have a F1 seat at all. Without Honda backing he wouldn't even be with vcarb.

[@sgript]

@scottmeredith3359 snowflake

[@Olifantenstaart]

That’s a fair comment. Seen a lot of unwarranted hate for Liam from people who favour Yuki.

[@interested8430]

That Xmas jumper... 😂 absolute melt 😂

[@dardog7734]

Hard to look at isn’t it

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Tsunoda has been in F1 for several years. Liam is a rookie and matched him. In no way did Tsunoda deserve the drive. He has far less growth potential given their relative experience and performance.

[@tomhowroyd]

Glad to see someone who shares my opinion.

[@ultimateninjanoob1]

Lawson lost 6-0 in quali and 8pts vs 4pts I think there is no doubt who was the better driver and who has more F1 experience.

[@sirproblade3440]

​@ultimateninjanoob1 Cota and Mexico liam was faster and 3 other races he was only 1 tenth off in qualifying. Plus sprint qualifying he was better and 4 years experience vs 11 races.

[@gouravghosh588]

I really wanted to see Yuki given a chance. Let's hope he gets a better drive elsewhere in the future. But all the best to Liam.

[@reynamartinez5037]

Happy for Liam. Wish him the best. Would never wish him ill. Do feel sad for Checo and Yuki. But there's nothing I can do. And hope this means better things are ahead for them! 😊

[@tefyau]

I don't understand why people expected redbull to pick yuki over liam. Yuki was apart of VCARB (RB) due to the honda deal they had with red bull. With that gone in 2026 why would red bull bother with yuki when they can invest in liam? And honda will be looking to get him a seat with a team using the honda engine like aston martin or Cadillac.

[@kuiuseyour1980]

bang on correct! Exactly what Red Bull were thinking plus I feel that maybe Verstappen might have expressed his preference swinging the decision to Lawson taking the seat.

[@scottmeredith3359]

Plus Yuki can’t seem to help himself from looking like a loose cannon

[@henkderuiter1161]

Agree

[@ZaferGazoz-1996]

@@tefyau ??? Cadillac and Ferrari already announced that Cadillac will use Ferrari engines. What are you even on about? And Aston has no free seat in 2026 and even if they did Honda has no final power over Aston Martin seats. Final decision fully belongs to Lawrence Stroll. And Lawrence is not a type who would accept Yuki as star driver in his team alongside his son.

[@elzonn]

Because everyone wants to be ouraged over nothing. Liam has a way brighter future than yuki and he's a real red bull junior. Yuki is a paid driver.

[@scottmeredith3359]

Happy for Liam, hope his career doesn’t die in the cradle because the F1 press can’t help themselves questioning why he isn’t beating Max. Yuki dug his own grave over the last four years, clearly stats alone don’t erase the concerns they have over the apparent lack of self control Yuki has shown. Even this season Yuki nearly plowed into his teammate deliberately on a cooldown lap over team orders, that doesn’t exactly demonstrate self constraint.

[@ijmad]

Yuki's seat is funded by Honda. RBR seem him as the Honda guy. Honda and RBR are done in 2026. It's not difficult to understand why he's never getting promoted to the top team.

[@James-gr5mx]

Yuki is way better than Liam and deserves a seat. A guy with 7 races will not perform in a redbull.

[@anselmjonathan8598]

I think it is pretty clear that Yuki wasn't considered to be mature enough even though he became more mature over the past two seasons. Liam Lawson was super impressive in wheel to wheel battles the first two races he jumped into the car. Listening to Horner's interview which was published yesterday the key differentiator seemed to be mentality as the most important quality to race alongside Max Verstappen. And no one can deny that he has that and also is very talented - let's just see what he'll be able to do alongside Max next season. And to all who say it's a betrayal to Yuki: If he doesn't get promoted after four years then RB most likely have their reasons apart from his bonds with Honda.

[@RCRitterFPV]

agreed, Marko wrote him off a long time ago and once he makes a decision... he's stubborn. he would be too aggressive against Max. Lawson understands the politics and pecking order...

[@scottmeredith3359]

So mature he damn near plowed his car into Ricciardo on a cooldown lap this season over team orders. The “maturity” element is too little too late. Claiming he’s matured is recency bias… he only seemed to TRY and chill out when it dawned on him 3.5 years into F1 that maybe Redbull would promote him if he could show some self control. The damage was already done by then.

[@scottmeredith3359]

I should add I agree with everything else you said, I just take issue with the idea he’s matured the last two seasons.

[@kashmir883]

@@scottmeredith3359 yeah yuki still lets his crazy show too

[@anselmjonathan8598]

@@scottmeredith3359Yeah, I probably had his swearing in mind and completely forgot about that incident with Ricciardo. He def matured in the way he communicated inside and more so outside the car but you're probably right in stating that it really only has been much better in the past nine months or so.

[@Bearer_of-Light]

Yuki'stans remember this.. Honda is why Yuki exists in RBR/VCarb, Honda is leaving in '25 for Aston in '26. 4 years, yes, and yes he beat Dani Ric and DeVries and yes he did beat Liam. His time over Liam was factional, as in .006 average pace difference. His average pace against Dani Ric and Nyck was .2 - .5 . In his 4 years he couldn't get much more over Liam who's had 11 races and was just throw into it. I promise you don't know more than what RedBull/VCarb know. No matter what you may think you know.

[@Carl-s4i]

Yuki has always been a red bull driver get it right

[@Bearer_of-Light]

@@Carl-s4i apparently not.. I don't see his name next to Max's 🤷‍♀

[@Carl-s4i]

@@Bearer_of-Light that's because max don't want to be beaten

[@Bearer_of-Light]

@@Carl-s4i bawhahahaha You can't be for real. I want what you are smoking

[@Carl-s4i]

@@Bearer_of-Light max will cry

[@ikkezegtie]

Yuki never really really put 1 race result in that really raised eyebrows. So i totally understand. But I think it's very weird to put a 'rookie' in the RedBull, especially considering the difficulties Alex and Pierre had.

[@joshswain9288]

I hope he doesn’t get hate just because Yuki didn’t get the seat but Liam has more ties to red bull Yuki mainly has ties with Honda

[@ross-carlson]

No, he'll get the hate he deserves, Yuki will have nothing to do with it.

[@meme._hoe._8392]

It's a very big task to go into his first full season in the RedBull, nobody else has really had to do that. I do like Liam Lawson a lot, and I hope he does well and proves everyone wrong, but it almost feels too tall a task for him to be very competitive probably as fast as they'll want him to. I don't think it's fair everyone hating on him so soon, RB clearly never considered Yuki, they'll say it's because of his ties with Honda but they just don't want him, I think people need to realise that. I hope he's able to survive alongside Max, it'd be quite sad to see him crack under all this pressure, if anything I hope he can be a good teammate, rack up a few wins and just be consistent, sadly whoever joins alongside Max will never be the teams priority, so I hope he does as well as he can.

[@MichaelSchumacherfan91]

Well he's going into a much quicker car he's moved from very low midfield 2 at the front so I expect Lawson 2 be 5th 4th maybe a podium here and then cause Red Bull at best want their 2nd driver 2 have a good season they wouldn't want any 2nd driver 2 have a great or biblical season then that means it's taking 2 much away from their golden boy Verstappen and Lawson needs 2 prove he's got talent and can be at the front because if he's just another Perez then he's gone by gone quickly

[@twinkycode]

There's no doubt RB does not treat their drivers with all the respect they deserve. It would have been logical to give the seat to Yuki. Speaking for myself, I always liked the mindset of Liam and always hoped he got his chance.

[@doug3011]

good to see a pundit identifying Liams mental strength as an asset..it is his best trait I think.. Yuki deserved the seat really it must be politics. I heard Ford are not happy to take a Honda driver going forward. I wish Liam well. its great to see drivers come up who have not had everything handed to them on a plate.

[@gunshipzeroone3546]

Yes, working with Max, not beating max..

[@daveroberts1099]

Just gos to show ,that even if you don’t have the big bucks , giving your kids confidence, is huge .

[@soxnpats4lyfe]

Yuki may be quick but Liam absolutely has the mental composure for that seat.

[@blusofa8814]

They chose Liam because they know he won't challenge Max.

[@kuiuseyour1980]

plus he's not affiliated with Honda and came through the Red Bull junior program where Yuki didn't. More upward long-term potential with Lawson who was tapping at Yuki's heals only after a handful of races.

[@joligramm4255]

They won't let him fight max lol

[@Jacky5299]

Hasn't got that league of talent.

[@HoofHearted88]

The seat next to Max has got to be the most desired and hated seat in all of F1. Verstappen is still growing as a driver and he's proven to be the best driver on the grid this past year, so his data have got to be valuable for every driver. But you'll always be compared to him as well. Checo was more experienced when he joined the team and actually held his own for a while. All the best to Lawson. He comes across as a nice bloke, I hope he can handle the pressure well.

[@QuickJuggernaut]

Best of luck to Liam. Hope he does well and RedBull allows for progress instead of sacking him early like Gasly and Albon.

[@SouthWestCarpHunter]

RIP Lawson career end of 2025. And that being generous if he makes it that far. Gonna end up the next gasley and Albon but with no seat after this one

[@James-gr5mx]

Why would they choose a guy with 7 races? Give Yuki a chance he has more experience and had a good season beating Riccardo and Lawson

[@SouthWestCarpHunter]

@ exactly that. This decision will end up the bad one

[@WaelAli-sd8sw]

What Red Bull need to do now is to give enough support to Liam so he can survive instead of letting him sink or swim without any support.

[@scottmeredith3359]

Yeah because they didn’t “support” Checo 🙄 They gave away a constructors title supporting an underperforming driver for roughly two seasons, it’s such a laughable idea that Redbull don’t support their own drivers when they’d only be sabotaging themselves by NOT supporting them.

[@TheJohn0363]

@@scottmeredith3359 you only been watching f1 3 years? Im a RB fan but what they did to Gasly and Albon and how they deal with people like Ricciardo, if Max to jum ship I wouldnt be a RB fan any longer. Max is the team. RB as well as a lot of the teams are truely horrible.

[@Jacky5299]

​@@TheJohn0363if the driver isn't up to scratch, whats wrong with that. They are not a charity!!

[@veckgames]

Working WITH Verstappen? Surely, you mean working FOR Verstappen.

[@esciteach7997]

yeah but like ALL the greats as the younger teammate; working with Michael Jordan, Messi, LeBron, Brady . . . .

[@摩伽羅魚太郎]

Winning without fighting is the best strategy But those who fought and disappeared are not cowards Daniel＆Nyck RIP

[@rybackracing8075]

Hope Liam goes well. Both he and Yuki deserved a chance. Got to feel for Yuki though. What more does the guy have to do?

[@justme7446]

Think about Gasly, Albon and Perez... Is Yuki as quick as them or quicker? It probably would not work out, Yuki has to go elsewhere boosting his career. Lawson has not got much experience so we need to see.

[@Dan-dm2pm]

Good Luck Liam...Learn from the best Max!!

[@cosmicvcosmic]

This wont work, Liam has too much of an ego to drive with Max, he wont be a team player

[@scottmeredith3359]

*Tries hard not to recall Yuki trying to kill Daniel during a cooldown lap while in a blind rage* “Lawson is a hot head! Yuki would NEVER lack self control!” lol

[@cosmicvcosmic]

@ Didn’t mention Yuki bud, only talked about Liam

[@pootindewznuts]

@@cosmicvcosmic tbh I think max doesn't care who he drives with or against he'll race anything and anyone in front of him on the track, and as we already know he neither takes team orders nor he cares about team orders to fight teammate

[@TheJohn0363]

agreed.

[@vpsaline]

Liam is showing more maturity and potential then Yuki. Yuki can bahave like a bratty teenager often at times.

[@Robbielazar]

I feel like Yuki will be driving Liam’s car by the end of 2025

[@blk_miss1le963]

Got a F1 genius over here

[@bornat25]

The sooner youu get, the sooner you MIGHT loose

[@Alex2505-]

nah

[@The_Lost_Subrosian]

Bad call from Red Bull. Too much, too soon like Gasly and Albon before him.

[@czechplastik]

Lewis, Max, Charles all stepped up immediately. If you're good enough you're ready.

[@Erikie81]

​@czechplastik not really ! Max had 1.5 season at Toro Rosso. Leclerc had some time a Alpha Romeo. Red Bull had poor management thinking they had more Max figures in their arsenal.

[@d.b.cooper1]

​@@czechplastik They're very rare cases, Redbull always vastly overestimate their own junior drivers. Then again, they don't care cause weak drivers keep the Verstappen camp happy, which is the key thing

[@czechplastik]

@The_Lost_Subrosian I think Bottas was the best option they had once they let Sainz go to Williams. Fast, consistent and a team player. Missed opportunity.

[@CJ5EVOLUTION]

Heck of a Red Bull team for 2025

[@valydobos6485]

Heck of a disaster...

[@itsjustchloe9635]

the only reason why i love Liam getting the seat is bcs of F1 Twitters non stop crying and sobbing about it xD

[@blusofa8814]

They chose Liam to support Max. They have no intention of letting him challenge for Drivers Championships

[@oldfartgaming6273]

He will be a good bottas

[@Olifantenstaart]

Liam is good but not championship material. Can’t expect that from him. I hope he can win a F1 race in his career.

[@HUMC5]

@@oldfartgaming6273 Bottas could fight for the championship. The best driver after 6-8 races would get priority.

[@HoofHearted88]

@@HUMC5 Bottas could fight for the championship in the same way an amateur could pick a fight with Tyson Fury in a bar brawl. Sure, you're both in the fight but one doesn't stand a chance right from the get go.

[@James-gr5mx]

​@@HoofHearted88ridiculous comparison bottas is a top class driver always finishing 2nd and being consistent.

[@brianquinndh689]

Hope he can do well, good driver and plenty of good formula results/seasons, fight between him and max could get wild 😂

[@ISirSmoke]

he will win in Australia, I can feel it

[@valydobos6485]

Hope not...

[@David_7171]

Dude you sound like a Sith Lord

[@Jacky5299]

Mid field at best!

[@ANTM13-07]

Yuki deserves this seat by far but hey I’m sure Liam will do well

[@dstanley7333]

Look at the stats then say that

[@BrazenNL]

Why? He's part of the Honda package, which is going to Aston Martin in 2026.

[@stevieboy666]

@@dstanley7333 How about the stat that he outqualified Tsunoda once in 11 Grand Prix over his two stints

[@stevieboy666]

@@BrazenNLWhich seat is he taking? Lance has a lifetime contract and Alonso is obviously not retiring in a Newey rocketship

[@S2GUnit]

​@@stevieboy666He just said Honda is moving to Aston but didn't say anything about Yuki going to Aston to replace anyone. Maybe Yuki will be another back up driver for Aston?

[@dontlistenme]

Sorry kiddo, but this is the end of your career

[@David1991.]

Yuki bottle it in Red Bull Racing testing in Abu Dhabi

[@dontlistenme]

@David1991. it is not about what Yuki did. it is about the culture of Red Bull Racing

[@tonybaker55]

I am sure he will soon be able to buy his parents a house.

[@thedalailmao]

"Can you remember the first F1 present you ever got?" Seriously? That's the second question you want to ask? LOL

[@eweegreen1908]

If Yuki wants something to happen he has to step up and look in other directions, if his ok like this then it means that's his level . Liam has been doing great in the 2 times he has been given a shot , yuki has been improving but that took him what , a few years , and he is still maturing , he would be eaten at redbull.

[@kelvinchocolate7045]

How well did Lawson do this season?

[@pdxMax]

Best of luck Liam

[@mufcracer8609]

Media will fail to highlight Yuki been robbed as usual

[@splashmoby]

Woomp woomp

[@David_7171]

Helmut likes him. And there’s not many people Helmut likes.

[@CJ5EVOLUTION]

Time to repay the parents with a nice dream house as a big thank you for the sacrifice to achieve that goal.

[@fardeed]

Malfoy to leave mid season

[@BaggyCreature49]

F1 is so unserious 😂 why tf have they signed him

[@zdenekprecechtel6741]

Gasly, Albon.....do you remember them?

[@jacquelinequinones1952]

SOOOOO HAPPY!!! Congratulations!!! This will be a great team!! Championships #1 for Max , maybe #2 for Liam, #1 Constructors!!! ❤❤❤❤

[@lxndr3299]

Best of luck, Liam.

[@dardog7734]

I like Liam

[@eddieeverheart6399]

Another sub standard driver as Max's teammate. Red Bull and Max are an absolute joke now.

[@tahag2107]

Charismatic young chap

[@Jacky5299]

Mono tone!!

[@TheoTMasonThompson]

Something ironic about that Christmas jumper…👀

[@grandegrande4319]

Big big Mistake Red Bull.

[@S2KEVIN]

Is there a positive correlation between driving skill and balding or lisping? I don't get it. When you have lispers and thinners among the "top 20" in the world, you begin to wonder.

[@Molly-r8o7q]

You guys Think you have the exclusive, main stream news is dead

[@11bornrich]

They violated Yuki but are we surprised?😂

[@David1991.]

Yuki bottle it in Red Bull Racing testing in Abu Dhabi

[@scottmeredith3359]

Yuki bottled his own career by being a loose cannon and demonstrating almost no self control when he had 4 seasons to figure it out.

[@RRedmondiy43]

Predict Lawson to be fast but very inconsistent.

[@manu-g21-mx]

Yuki is pissed

[@dstanley7333]

No he isn't

[@David1991.]

Yuki bottle it once again

[@toggtlas7099]

Red Bull really makes the worst driver decisions. They haven't got one right since Max. Gasly, Albon, Perez, de Vries, trying to make Ricciardo part 2 happen, this absurd promotion... Maybe it's just time for Horner and Helmut to seek out new greeneries.

[@Sc50001]

I hope he does well. I bet paying back the family would be as good as a championship.

[@andrewprice9444]

Two Bonnie Scot's - who knew

[@robblosse]

Super underwhelmed by him, I’d rather have these ahead of him: Pouchaire, Drugovich, colapinto, hadjar over Lawson, he’ll be out by mid season.

[@TheJohn0363]

I agree. I mean I do wish him luck, Im not evil, but I just dont get him or the hype.

[@bsrbck]

I hope he doesnt become a yes man. But I fear the reason he got the seat was because he's prepared to not challenge Verstappen and sit back and simply be No.2 and get as many points as possible for the team, something Perez didnt do!

[@TheJohn0363]

Perez didnt do anything but lose them reputation.

[@SCALE_SLOTCARS_AND_RC]

Interesting 🙂

[@AnilAlbo]

He will be sacked one Day, like they did with Gasly and Albon.

[@d-zone]

Yuki deserved this drive, liam should have been given the RB seat.......

[@Al-vw8qt]

He isn't good enough to beat yuki h2h yet gets the golden ticket. Lmao

[@kuiuseyour1980]

he's had a 11 races..he was tapping at Yuki and Yuki has been racing for 4 years in F1. Yuki is a sook with no technical feedback to the team, lacks the mentality.

[@TheJohn0363]

@@kuiuseyour1980 yes hes had 1 races, so what do you do? put him in the toughest yet best seat on the grid? lol

[@_rakkim]

Good luck 🤞

[@meinkraft2284]

well, it won't last long, like every no.2 driver at redbull.

[@neilb7758]

Wont work just another no2 yet not fast enough for sister team yuki is by far better driver than him see him struggling to compete

[@SpyderGuyC8]

I think it should have gone to Yuki, but I don't see anyone being "successful" in the #2 RB seat. A finicky car in a toxic environment with the most dominant driver is a recipe for failure.

[@12zulu1]

Well done Liam you deserve it

[@Desert__Penguin]

@@12zulu1 I mean not really but ok

[@gabrielhdez41]

don't*

[@WantedVRGT]

eh not really hes not even done a whole season in f1 bt yuki is wasting his time at this point

[@aidenbliss]

Yuki 6-0s Lawson in qualifying

[@BlackNick360]

how lol

[@Shocker99]

I feel for Yuki ! In my opinion, he should have that RB seat Clearly Lawson is no Schumacher/Hamilton/Verstappen, so why has he been shoved into the seat this early when Yuki could of had a season

[@Jimmy_Moon]

I wish him well.

[@aala7337]

Telling time will be this time next year,will Lawson still be there! I wouldn’t like to say he will be!😊

[@king5phenom]

🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵

[@OnTheMoveTransport]

Hopefully it goes well!

[@rowan6207]

What is Yuki even doing at this point

[@CarolineEmanuel-g1o]

Omg bad news

[@Pedro285]

Super happy and proud of you Liam. Congrats from NZ. Go well.

[@FNH68279]

If i'm Yuki Tsunoda,i feel like i just got betrayed by someone i know for a long time.

[@valydobos6485]

This is the end of his future... And I'm already happy about it 😂

[@chopperharris32]

Great for Liam, But Yuki deserved the Red Bull drive

[@Jacky5299]

His mono tone voice just puts me to sleep 😴😴

[@Yamblat777]

All I can say is , "He is going to be destroyed, like Alex and all the rest" !!!!. End of a career for Liam ?

[@Mmass859]

Its a absolute NO for me dawg

[@b29ak2007]

Craig slater... is the worst.. lol😂😂😂

[@harrison1308]

let’s gooooo liam!!!!

[@thesmallerhalf1968]

We will have to wait and see. For all the doomsayers who reference Gasly & Albon, consider that RB might well have learned a lesson or two as a result. What they failed to do was give those drivers time to bed in and learn. Perez suggests they have learned something.

[@splashmoby]

Liam > Yuki

[@TheJohn0363]

too much ego

[@CalvinMOfficial]

Hopefully Redbull give him a car on par to Max's so he can challenge Max. Let's see

[@scottmeredith3359]

Tell me you’re new to F1 without telling me you’re new to F1. “Redbull make two different cars, Max gets the good one and they sabotage the other one to slow down the #2 driver” Well done sir, mission accomplished

[@michaelalexander3213]

Yuki 😅😅😅😅😅

[@JReed91]

They keep shitting on poor Yuki it's not on Redbull are just a very toxic company wouldn't want to be there if I was Yuki

[@scottmeredith3359]

Calling Redbull toxic while ignoring Yuki being an absolute agent of chaos for four years 😂

[@JReed91]

​@scottmeredith3359 well we all know Liam won't last tge full season lol and I'd be very surprised if he did

[@Michael27Romero]

Dudes cooked he won’t get one podium 💀💀

[@Michael27Romero]

Redbull only signs yt drivers shusi never had a chance unless he won’t the WDC 😴