Red Bull engineer feedback prompted Liam Lawson's exit, claims Christian Horner

Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull engineers' feedback prompted the call to fire Liam Lawson after just two races. He was brought to the team as a replacement for Sergio Perez, as the second seat at Red Bull has been a bone of contention for some time now.

Since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull, multiple drivers have been placed alongside Max Verstappen, but none of them have been able to have the kind of performance that makes the partnership sustainable. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Sergio Perez have been in that seat but nothing worked out.

The latest in the list was Liam Lawson. The Kiwi driver was promoted to the senior team after just 11 races in the junior squad.

Talking to Sky Sports, Red Bull boss Christian Horner shared that one of the reasons behind dropping Lawson was that the team's engineering unit felt that the driver was struggling a bit too much with the car. He said:

"I think with everything that we saw in Australia and China, you could see that it was really affecting Liam quite badly. We could have left it, and I think that Liam is a driver with talent. Maybe within half a season he would have got there, but we just don't have that amount of time."

Horner added:

"It was something that was very clear to the engineering side within the team, just how much Liam was struggling with it all, and you could see that weight upon his shoulders. The engineers were coming to me very concerned about it, and at the end of the day, I think it was the logical thing to do."

Red Bull boss admits Max Verstappen was not happy with Liam Lawson getting axed

In the aftermath of Liam Lawson being fired, Max Verstappen liked an Instagram post by Giedo van der Garde, thrashing Red Bull's mismanagement of drivers. When questioned if the team's lead driver was not happy with the call, Horner admitted that it was the case.

Horner said:

"I think he was surprised at the speed. But he could also see how much Liam was struggling. He knows where we need to improve on the car. He's been working really hard with the engineering team. We had a very good session with him last week where he's just very focused on improving the car, finding those final few tenths to get us really on terms with the McLarens ahead."

With Liam Lawson out of the team now, Max Verstappen would have a third different teammate in four races. Yuki Tsunoda will join the 4-time world champion at the team in Suzuka.