F1 News
Marko pulls no punches, saying Lawson's performances were "not good enough"
Helmut Marko has admitted that Liam Lawson's performances were "not good enough", but insists the move to replace him for Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull is "not a demotion".
Lawson was chosen to replace the outgoing Sergio Perez for the 2025 Formula 1 season at Red Bull Racing, battling it out with Tsunoda at Racing Bulls for the final six Grands Prix of the 2024 campaign. The Japanese driver was overlooked once again by Marko and team principal Christian Horner, who chose Lawson to partner with Max Verstappen.
However, just two races later, Lawson's time at Red Bull will come to an end, struggling to get to grips with a difficult RB21, although the ruthless decision has come under some criticism due to the 23-year-old only competing in 13 Grands Prix in his career. Lawson will now return to Racing Bulls, while Tsunoda will finally make the move up to Red Bull.
Lawson "couldn't show his real potential"
"His performance was unfortunately not good enough, and that comes from self-confidence," Marko said when asked about why the move was made so abruptly, speaking on British radio, BBC Radio 5 Live.
"[Lawson] lost confidence, and he couldn't show his real potential. We were worried that his self-confidence is so damaged that he couldn't bring his normal performance," continued the 81-year-old advisor, explaining why the decision was made to replace Lawson before the Japanese Grand Prix, a circuit that the 23-year-old has plenty of experience around due to his Super Formula days.
Marko still sees a bright future for Lawson
However, despite the move back down the grid, Marko believes that getting behind the wheel for Racing Bulls for the remainder of the 2025 season is "not a demotion" for Lawson.
"He's not kicked out of F1. Racing Bulls will give him the chance to recover, and his career will start again. For the benefit of him, he goes back to Racing Bulls, which has a car capable of being top 10 in qualifying and the race.
"Just look in the past, it was [Pierre] Gasly, it happened the same, also to [Alex] Albon, and they recovered, and they are now competitive F1 drivers," continued the Austrian.
The move to the sister team of Red Bull will also put Lawson back into a car that is much easier to drive, with Marko admitting the RB21 was difficult for Lawson to drive: "On top of it, the RB21 is a car which is not the fastest car but nevertheless very difficult to drive and Max can handle, but not Liam at this stage.
"And on the other hand, we have two drivers for the constructors' championship but also to support Max strategy-wise, if you have two drivers top five or eight it is easier to max a strategy that favours the number one driver," concluded Marko.
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