‘Dream since I was a kid’ – Liam Lawson breaks silence on Red Bull axe with emotional statement and posts childhood pics

LIAM LAWSON has broken his silence after being dropped by Red Bull.

The 23-year-old has had a nightmare start to the Formula One season after failing to score any points in the first two weekends.

Red Bull chiefs confirmed this morning they would be swapping the Kiwi driver for Racing Bulls star Yuki Tsunoda, with Lawson heading back to the team he had driven 11 races before across two stints in 2023 and 2024.

Much has been said of the move, with Max Verstappen appearing to not be too happy about the situation after liking a social media post comparing it to “bullying”.

Lawson was the latest in a line of drivers dating back to Pierre Gasly in 2019 – followed by Alex Albon and Sergio Perez – who have struggled to emulate Verstappen in taming the mechanical beast created by the Red Bull engineers.

However, following his demotion to the sister team, Lawson has addressed the situation with a heartfelt social media post.

Taking to Instagram hours after the news was confirmed, Lawson posted a photo of himself as a kid in school with an old drawing he did outlining his dream of becoming an F1 driver.

Lawson captioned his post: “Being a @redbullracing driver has been my dream since I was a kid, it’s what I’ve worked towards my whole life.

“It’s tough, but I'm grateful for everything that’s brought me to this point.

“To every one of you who’s stood by me, thank you for all the support it means the world.

BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK

“Thank you @visacashapprb for the warm welcome, I’m excited and ready to go to work at one of my favourite places.”

Tsunoda, 24, had said he would welcome a team switch if offered because the Red Bull car was faster.

However, Lawson seemed to not take the comments too well, saying after the Chinese Grand Prix: “He can say whatever he wants. I've raced him for years, raced him in the junior categories and beat him.

“If I look back over our careers, I was team-mates with him in F3 and I beat him. In Euroformula I was team-mates with him, [and] in New Zealand, and I beat him there.

“Then inF1last season I think honestly, if I look at all the times he got promoted instead of me in those early years, then no. He’s had his time. Now it’s my time.”

The pair were team-mates in the motorsport last season, with the Japanese driver out-qualifying Lawson 6-0 and going 4-2 in their head-to-headracefinishes.

On the decision, team boss Christian Horner said: “It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races and as a result we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch.

“We came into the 2025 season, with two ambitions, to retain the World Drivers' Championship and to reclaim the World Constructors' title and this is a purely sporting decision.

“We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car.

“We welcome him to the Team and are looking forward to seeing him behind the wheel of the RB21.

“We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and together, we see that after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience, as he continues his F1 career with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, an environment and a Team he knows very well.”

The Japanese Grand Prix is the next race on the calendar on April 6.