Horner mum on possible Lawson-Tsunoda swap: 'Purely speculative'
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner declined to confirm Liam Lawson's future Sunday after the driver struggled during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
"Look, I think everything is purely speculative at the moment," Horner said when asked if Lawson would be in the seat for the next race in Japan, according to ESPN's Laurence Edmondson. "We've just finished this race. We're going to take away the info and have a good look at it."
He added: "I think Liam still has potential. We're just not realizing that at the moment."
Lawson has yet to score a point for Red Bull while his teammate and reigning world champion Max Verstappen is second in the drivers' championship with 36 points. Lawson also qualified last in both the sprint and Grand Prix format in China.
| Event | Result |
|---|---|
| Australia GP qualifying | 18th |
| Australia GP race | Did not finish |
| Chinese GP sprint qualifying | 20th |
| Chinese GP sprint race | 14th |
| Chinese GP qualifying | 20th |
| Chinese GP race | 12th |
Horner added that they "need both drivers up there" in order to fight for the constructors' and drivers' championships.
Red Bull promoted Lawson from RB last season, picking him over Yuki Tsunoda to replace the struggling Sergio Perez despite Lawson only having 11 Formula 1 races under his belt at the time. Perez's erratic performances in 2024 played a major factor in Red Bull losing the constructors' title to McLaren.
Horner opted to keep any thoughts on a potential Tsunoda promotion to himself, not wanting to add more media attention to the saga.
"I'm not even going to comment on a change, because that would be your first headline," Horner remarked. "You know, as I say, we're two races into this championship, so we have a sample of two."
Tsunoda said Sunday he's "100%" up to the challenge of replacing Lawson at Red Bull for the next race, per Edmondson.