Scott McLaughlin gives his 'unwanted' take on Liam Lawson’s Red Bull exit

Scott McLaughlin recently weighed in on Liam Lawson’s exit from Red Bull Racing. The 23-year-old was replaced at the Milton Keynes outfit after just two races into the 2025 Formula One season.

The decision to replace the New Zealand-born driver, which the Austrian outfit had labeled as pivotal to their championship hopes, has since been greeted with mixed reactions from several fans and stakeholders in the world of motorsports.

Scott McLaughlin was among the several individuals who aired their concerns about the decision. The 31-year-old IndyCar driver, who shares a strong affection for F1, took to social media to detail his thoughts on Red Bull Racing's actions.

Taking to his X (formerly Twitter) account, the Team Penske driver commented:

“Here’s a take that you didn’t ask for. 2 tracks they gave Liam in that car, that he hadn’t been to before. Finally heads to Suzuka, where perhaps he knows that track more than most on the calendar due to racing in Japan, etc. But gets axed before it."

"It’s a cruel sport, but I really don’t think he was given a fair shot, IMO. Ok… if he goes bad at Suzuka, I get the change-up. But give the kid a chance. If you are going to throw him in the deep end against a 4x world champ to begin with, why even give him the shot in the first place if you aren’t going to ride the wave?” he added.

Concluding his post with a blunt assessment of Red Bull’s approach, Scott McLaughlin wrote:

“Nothing against Yuki, and I think he’s a shoe, but the Red Bull game is ruthless/irrational. I look forward to the next installment of this broken system.”

Liam Lawson was replaced at Red Bull by Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, who partnered with the Kiwi driver during his previous two stints at the Racing Bulls team (formerly AlphaTauri and Torro Rosso). The former F2 driver will kick off his third stint at the Faenza-based outfit with the Japanese Grand Prix event.

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Scott McLaughlin opposed McLaren’s Australian Grand Prix strategy

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the F1 Grand Prix Of China - Source: Getty

Scott McLaughlin previously took to social media to criticize the McLaren team's strategy at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. The Papaya Orange team had radioed Oscar Piastri not to attempt an overtake on his teammate, Lando Norris.

This radio message from the McLaren pit wall was greeted with a flurry of reactions, particularly considering it was the opening race of the F1 season and, at the same time, Piastri’s home race.

McLaughlin took to his X account to share his thoughts on the message passed to the 23-year-old driver.

“Great for Lando, but feel for OP. Home race, getting told to hold pozzy—bit rich, first race of the year. I would’ve unplugged the radio, sorry @benbretzman 😂😂,” the Team Penske driver wrote, tagging his race engineer.

While the debacle in the F1 paddock rolls on, Scott McLaughlin will shift his focus to try and record a better performance in the next IndyCar race at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The seven-time IndyCar race winner endured an outing to forget during the Thermal Club race weekend. Having qualified in the 25th position for the race, he failed to complete the Grand Prix after spinning and suffering an issue with the hybrid system of his car, which forced him to retire from the Palm Springs event.