Liam Lawson makes his feelings known about his first race weekend since Red Bull fired him

Following his recent demotion to Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson shared his thoughts about the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix. The former Red Bull driver, in a recent press release, stated that he is looking forward to racing for the Red Bull sister team on his 'favorite' track.

Lawson's demotion from the Milton Keynes-based team sent shockwaves across the F1 fraternity as the Christian Horner-led team brought in Yuki Tsunoda to race alongside Max Verstappen. The move came just two race weekends after Lawson debuted as a Red Bull driver.

As a result of the move, Lawson will join Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls, a team where he debuted two years ago. As the Kiwi driver gears up to race for the Faenza-based team, here's what he said (as per Junaid Samodien on X):

"I’m really looking forward to be racing in Japan this weekend. Suzuka is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. It’s cool to drive and very high speed, which makes it great fun in a Formula One car."

"This weekend is a big opportunity for me as I rejoin Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, and I’m very excited to work with this team again. As always, I’ll be giving it everything I have," he further added.

Lawson was fairly successful during his junior racing days at this track. His last race in F1 in Suzuka was at the 2023 Japanese GP, where he subbed as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement. In that race, he qualified in P11 and finished the race in the same place. Compared to him, Tsunoda qualified in P9 and came home in P12.

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Former McLaren man termed Liam Lawson "cocky and arrogant"

Days after Red Bull demoted Liam Lawson, former McLaren man Juan Pablo Montoya called the Kiwi driver "cocky" and "arrogant." During his days in F1 with Racing Bulls last year, the New Zealander had some rough altercations on the radio regarding Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and a few more drivers.

Yuki Tsunoda leads Liam Lawson during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on September 24, 2023 in Suzuka, Japan - Source: Getty

Pointing it out, Montoya stated that such an attitude came back to bite him in 2025 as the Red Bull swap was a "slap in the face." Speaking about this, he had the following to add (via Racingnews365):

“I think right now his reputation is not good. You can see all the memes on social media. He's very cocky. A little arrogance is OK. But the problem is that when you're arrogant, you need to deliver. You need to back it up. This was a real slap in the face for him.”

Although the swap deal between Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson received a fair share of criticism, as per Red Bull top brass Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, it was done to help Verstappen and Red Bull in the Drivers' and Constructors' championships.