Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur makes his feelings known about Red Bull's Liam Lawson-Yuki Tsunoda swap

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur urged people to not judge Red Bull's decision to replace Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after just two races into the 2025 season. He argued that a lot of things go on behind the scenes that people, judging from the outside, are totally unaware of.

The Milton Keynes-based squad sacked new driver Liam Lawson just two races into the 2025 season. The New Zealander had initially replaced Sergio Perez this year but after two disappointing races, the Austrian team swapped him with Yuki Tsunoda.

Beginning from the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, Tsunoda will race for the energy drink-based team, and Lawson will be demoted to Racing Bulls. However, the team has faced backlash from fans, as many consider this decision as harsh on Lawson.

Meanwhile, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has joined this debate and opined that people shouldn't judge from the outside, as a lot of things could have unraveled behind the scenes, which might have pushed the Bull into making this decision. Talking to L’Équipe, he said:

"Would I change a driver after two GPs? These are the events at Red Bull. You don’t know how difficult it is to judge what happens in a team. You don’t know what happens, what leads them to make that decision. There are 12 billion reasons behind it, which only the team and the driver know. In fact, sometimes the driver doesn’t know them. So I prefer not to comment. You might find it brutal because it’s been two races, but we don’t have 10% of the elements to judge. I hate people judging what we do, so I won’t do it for others."

Yuki Tsunoda has been racing for VCARB since 2021 and outperformed Liam Lawson in both the races held this season so far.

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Max Verstappen reportedly unhappy with Red Bull's driver swap call

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen at F1 Grand Prix Of China - Source: Getty

Red Bull Racing appears to be in turmoil as Max Verstappen is reportedly unhappy with the team's decision to swap Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda. According to senior advisor Helmut Marko, the Dutchman is not on board with this new plan.

Talking to Telegraaf, Marko said:

"We know that Max Verstappen is not happy. But we need two cars at the front. Not only for the constructors' championship, but also to help Max to his fifth world title."

Lawson exited Q1 in qualifying sessions of both the Australian and Chinese GP. Moreover, while he crashed in Melbourne, he finished P12 in Shanghai, failing to score points. According to Helmut Marko, Liam's confidence was shattered, and hence Red Bull didn't feel it was a wise choice to give him another chance in Japan.

The next best candidate for them was Yuki Tsunoda, as his performance since the last many seasons has been noteworthy.