Lewis Hamilton: Red Bull dropping Liam Lawson ‘pretty tough’
SUZUKA, Japan — Lewis Hamilton said Red Bull‘s decision to swap Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after just two races shows the unfair pressure placed on young drivers in Formula 1 today.
Red Bull made the change for the Japanese Grand Prix after Lawson endured a miserable start to life as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
It has handed Tsunoda a Red Bull debut at his home race, with Lawson going back to Racing Bulls, where he raced 11 times across 2023 and 2024.
Hamilton suggested it was on par with Red Bull’s normal approach to racing driver decisions.
“I’m not surprised to see them move that early, no,” Hamilton said, when asked about the timing of the decision.
“They’re both great drivers. I think we’ve got a lot of really great drivers here, particularly young, talented drivers. I think there’s naturally a lot of pressure on youngsters coming in and I think there’s no way you can get fully on top of a car which is known to be not the easiest car to drive. Just to get in two races was pretty tough.”
Red Bull has become known for a brutal approach to its driver programme. In 2019 Pierre Gasly was demoted after just half a season, replaced by Alex Albon.
Albon was then dropped at the end of 2021. Both have gone on to cement their place in Formula 1 with other teams.
“I think it’s not a career-ender for Liam at all,” Albon said. “It’s how you use this opportunity. He’s still young. He’s still inexperienced. I know Liam. I obviously raced against him in DTM. I know how quick he is and how quick he was in that series. I think he’ll bounce back, and he’ll be just fine.
Albon added: “I think the season as a whole has become so tight now that you can’t have these races where you’re six-, seven-tenths off. You can’t afford to be that slow. And I think it’s just a difficult circumstance for him. It’s the final year of regulations where the cars have been optimised for their teams, for their drivers.”
Another of the grid’s rookies is no stranger to immediately facing pressure about their future.
Jack Doohan’s place at Alpine has been under constant speculation since the company signed Argentina‘s Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver, with numerous reports of an in-season switch coming.
“You know, I had rumours that I wasn’t even going to drive before I drove!” Doohan said when asked about the Red Bull swap. “I think [Lawson] is an extremely talented driver. And for one reason or another he has had a very hard time. But again, only two races. So it’s a shame. But I think, to be honest, [he’s] going to be more of a threat at RB than it potentially was at Red Bull.
“It’s a cut-throat sport, and especially in that situation. I don’t want to comment too much on it. But in a top team especially … it’s a business where they rely on performances and results. But he was in a very tricky situation. We know how tough that Red Bull is to drive.”
Haas driver Esteban Ocon, who had an acrimonious split with Alpine last year, said young drivers cannot operate when they do not have the support of their team.
“Obviously, a very difficult one for Liam, and that’s something I don’t wish for any drivers to have lived in,” he said. “The pressure he must have been going through and not having much support from what I’ve seen from the outside of his team is a difficult task. You always want to work with the people around you.
“And obviously, if it’s not going well, you want time as a driver to be able to fix things. I like Liam a lot. He’s a great guy. And it was not nice to see what he went through, but he’s still in Formula 1, and he’s in a very competitive car as well. So we should not be too sad for him, because he’s going to be fighting in decent spots in Formula 1 again.
“So that’s all fine. And it’s a good opportunity for Yuki also, especially in his own race. So it’s going to be exciting to watch on that side. But yes, as a driver who’s worked in an environment not very healthy at times, it’s not a nice thing. You want to be surrounded by people who push you in the right direction. And having too much pressure can’t really help, especially in difficult times.”
Source: espn.com