'Red Bull have taken their eye of the ball at the moment'

Liam Lawson's replacement after just two Grands Prix is the latest saga to hit Red Bull after 2024 was a year dogged by allegations of Christian Horner and his alleged inappropriate behaviour in the workplace. That, plus the control that the Brit now has over the team as a result of the passing of co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz, saw many members of the top team, including Adrian Newey, leave.

Last season was not comfortable for the Austrian team, which struggled to contend for wins with a challenging RB20 car, with the brilliance of Max Verstappen the main reason why the Dutchman gave Red Bull some title glory in 2024. In 2025, it looks to be more of the same, with a struggling RB21 unable to challenge the leading McLaren at the front of the grid. 

Red Bull need to stop making "knee-jerk reactions"

Lawson has had real struggles to get to grips with a challenge Red Bull car, qualifying dead last at the Chinese Grand Prix, while also crashing out of the Australian Grand Prix in what was a real test in his first full F1 season. But, as a result of his poor start to the season, he has been dropped back down to Racing Bulls, being replaced by Yuki Tsunoda for the Japanese Grand Prix to bring yet more questions to Red Bull's front door.

With this latest talking point for Red Bull, Sky Sports commentator Croft sees that the Austrian team have lost their way from the record-breaking season of 2023: "Someone said to me the other day, have they taken their eye off the ball? And it was a bad joke, but they probably have. They have jettisoned a whole heap of drivers. Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, and Daniel Ricciardo came and went, and then came and went again. Sergio Perez was brought in and then jettisoned at the end of last season because his performances just weren't up to it," said the Brit while speaking to Sky Sports News.

Red Bull used to boast one of the best driver academies in the world of motorsport, with many highly talented drivers coming into their academy to learn and prosper in the junior formulas, hopefully then succeeding when they reach the pinnacle of motorsport, thanks to their time in that programme.

However, that seems to have also lost its way due to some poor management: "They had, at one time, the best driver development program on the planet, but maybe they signed too many drivers, and then they had to offload them because they couldn't find spaces for all of them, and now, they probably haven't got that conveyor belt of talent coming through and ready for a seat with the top teams at this particular time. It takes a bit of time if you're not a Max Verstappen, if you're not a Kimi Antonelli, if you're not a Lewis Hamilton, to ease yourself into the world of Formula One. You sometimes need a bit of time.

"So, let's see what happens in the future. But I do think that Helmut Marko and Christian Horner need to sit down and say, 'Right, where is our conveyor belt of talent? Who is coming through? And how do we make a long-term plan now to stop making knee-jerk reactions that don't do the team much good and certainly don't do the drivers any good?'", concluded Croft.