NASCAR driver deems Red Bull’s Liam Lawson axing “one of the wildest” changes in motorsports

NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman weighed in on Red Bull Racing's recent driver shuffle, describing it as the "wildest and fastest" change in motorsports. Kligerman commented on the F1 team's latest decision to demote Liam Lawson and promote Yuki Tsunoda just two races into the 2025 F1 season.

Red Bull replaced Sergio Perez with Lawson, hoping the 23-year-old would be an improvement over the veteran, who had struggled to score points. However, Lawson continued the dreaded trend of second drivers failing to close the gap to 4x champion Max Verstappen. The young Kiwi qualified dead last in both events at Shanghai during the Chinese GP.

With Tsunoda gearing up for his Red Bull debut at his home Grand Prix in Japan, Kligerman called Lawson's demotion one of the wildest F1 driver moves. He suggested that top F1 teams can chop and change drivers at will when finances or funding isn't a concern and performance is the sole priority.

"One of the wildest and fastest driver changes and change of direction I’ve ever seen in motorsports...Potentially when finances (funding) aren’t the issue this is what happens in motorsports?" he wrote on X.

Red Bull is infamous for mid-season driver changes, with every driver since Daniel Ricciardo's exit failing to close the gap to Max Verstappen. Since 2019, the team has dropped Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, and now Liam Lawson. With just two starts, Lawson holds the record for the fewest appearances with the Milton Keynes-based team.

Tsunoda was previously overlooked for a promotion, as Red Bull's senior management believed Lawson, with 11 starts, had greater potential to succeed at the top team. However, just two races into the season, those in charge reversed their decision, demoting the New Zealander to the sister team, VCARB (Racing Bulls). The Japanese GP is scheduled for April 4-6.

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Kligerman comments on IndyCar going head-to-head with NASCAR

IndyCar and NASCAR broadcasts went head-to-head last weekend, resulting in a disastrous outcome for the open-wheel series. Despite NASCAR's Homestead race airing on FS1 and IndyCar's Thermal Club GP on FOX, the stock car race significantly outperformed its open-wheel counterpart, which was also affected by a broadcast interruption.

IndyCar's second race of the season drew 704,000 viewers, marking a 50% drop from the season opener, while the NASCAR Cup race attracted 2.464 million viewers. Parker Kligerman argued that both series shouldn't go live simultaneously, as it's difficult for fans to follow both races at once.

"Being on at the same time as NASCAR should be a crime. I tried watching both but its damn hard to have two races on at once and enjoy both. IndyCar succeeding is better for all motorsports, but we all need to work together," he wrote on X.

The Thermal Club race also trailed behind the Xfinity Series (1.16 million) and the Truck Series (906,000 on FOX) in viewership during the weekend. The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, which went live after midnight, outperformed IndyCar with 824,000 viewers.

Kligerman concluded that IndyCar's success would benefit all motorsports. The series heads to Long Beach, California, on April 13, during the NASCAR race weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.