Christian Horner has explained the decision to replace Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda after just two race weekends, citing a ‘duty of care’ and the need to ‘protect’ the New Zealander after a miserable start to life at Red Bull. Lawson failed to score a point across his first two Grand Prix weekends with Red Bull in Melbourne and Shanghai and, more worryingly, showed no signs of improvement as he struggled to understand the RB21’s behaviour.
After the Chinese Grand Prix, reports emerged suggesting that the 23-year-old might be replaced by Racing Bulls driver Tsunoda, and on Thursday, this news was confirmed by Red Bull. This was a brutal blow for Lawson, who must return to the sister team and rebuild his reputation.
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