"Man this is a hard, unconvincing pill to swallow": Fans react to Yuki Tsunoda getting snubbed for Liam Lawson to team up with Max Verstappen in 2025

F1 fans on social media reacted to the announcement that Liam Lawson would take Sergio Perez's place in Red Bull Racing instead of Yuki Tsunoda. While the Japanese driver will be on the grid for the 2025 season racing for Red Bull's sister team Visa Cash App RB, some fans claimed the 24-year-old was overlooked.

In an announcement on Wednesday, Red Bull Racing confirmed that Perez will not be on the grid next to 4-time champion Max Verstappen for the next season. Earlier today, it was announced that Lawson, who has 11 starts in F1, will be taking his spot over the more experienced Formula 1 driver Tsunoda who has 90 starts.

Tsunoda, who has been racing in F1 since 2021, joined the sport with AlphaTauri (now VCARB) and has outqualified the New Zealand driver in the six GPs that they have raced in.

Fans online had varied reactions to the announcement. One fan wrote:

"No hate towards Liam, but man this is a hard, unconvincing pill to swallow. Liam will be the first man to rise to the top team without ever beating or outqualifying his teammate."

Another fan wrote:

"injustice to yuki"

Here are a few other reactions from fans:

"I hate it for Yuki, he deserved a shot. I have mixed feelings about Liam, but i suppose that’s common with many drivers," a fan wrote.

"Yuki should have gotten a chance… unbelievable," a fan opined.

Fans also drew comparisons to Red Bull's decision to promote Lawson over Tsunoda with the Austrian team's decision to promote Pierre Gasly from Toro Rosso in 2019:

"Red Bull have learned absolutely nothing. Apart from the fact that Yuki Tsunoda deserves a chance they clearly forgot what happend the last times they put unexperienced drivers in that position," a fan wrote.

"Liam Lawson is class and a proper good lad but what’s a driver development program if you don’t promote your most developed driver. Overlooking Yuki Tsunoda is a travesty. And they’re going to thrust Lawson up too quickly. We’re looking at another Gasly situation here," a fan commented.

Yuki completed the 2024 season in 12th place in the standings with 30 points. His highest grid position in 2024 was P7 which he achieved at the races in Australia, Miami, and Brazil.

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Christian Horner spoke about the decision to pick Liam Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda

Christian Horner in Abu Dhabi (Source: Getty)

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner spoke about why they decided to go with Lawson over Tsunoda in an interview with ESPN. Horner highlighted that it was a tricky decision between the two young drivers, however, he opted for Lawson based on his ability to adapt and his capability to grow.

Talking about Tsunoda's performance in F1 and the decision itself, Horner said (via ESPN):

"It was very, very tight between the two of them, I mean, Yuki is a very fast driver. He's got three or four seasons of experience now. He did a very good job in the tyre test for us in Abu Dhabi where the engineers were impressed with how he performed."

Furthermore, when he spoke about why Red Bull decided to go with the 22-year-old, he said:

"A couple of things have stood out with me with Liam - how versatile he is, you put him into a situation, he gets on with it."

He elaborated:

"He's got that kind of gritty racer mentality. [...] his racecraft has been really one of his key strengths. So he's not afraid to go wheel-to-wheel and even rub wheels where necessary. So I think he's going to do a great job for us."

The partnership of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda brought Visa Cash App RB a total of 12 points during their time together in the last 6 races of the season. VCARB completed the 2024 season 8th in the constructors championship.