Critical Sainz says Red Bull make F1 "even harder" for its drivers

It comes after Liam Lawson was officially dropped from the Austrian team after just two races in the 2025 season, struggling to get to grips with a tricky RB21. 18th in qualifying was followed by a crash in the Australian Grand Prix, followed by a P16 at the Chinese Grand Prix a week later, where he qualified slowest for both the sprint and race.

The dropping of the New Zealander meant he was demoted back to Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda promoted to Red Bull after he was originally overlooked. The Japanese driver becomes the sixth teammate for Max Verstappen, with Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Lawson, and all previously partnering up with the Dutchman.

Sainz himself knows what the Red Bull Racing background is like, coming through the Austrian team's academy to get to Formula 1 in 2015, racing with Toro Rosso before moving to Renault in 2017.

"Well, I guess it's the hard life of Formula 1," started Sainz. "It's nothing new or nothing that we haven't seen before. Unfortunately, in this sport, only the last two or three races that you do count.

Red Bull has been known for their ruthless decision-making when it comes to the second seat, with Gasly failing to finish a full season before his time at the Austrian team came to an end. Nyck de Vries also failed to surpass 11 races with AlphaTauri. However, Lawson's demotion has had lots of talk surrounding it.

"It's just a hard sport, and probably at Red Bull it's even harder," Sainz admitted, talking about the pressure and consequences at the Austrian team.

"It is also even tougher because of the way that program is being run and the way it works. But [it’s] nothing new. When you're there, you know that's what's waiting for you," concluded the 30-year-old.