Christian Horner has admitted that Red Bull made a mistake by promoting Liam Lawson to its senior Formula 1 team for 2025, acknowledging that the New Zealander lacked the experience required to compete alongside Max Verstappen. The admission comes as Lawson enjoys his strongest season in the championship and strengthens his claim to remain at Racing Bulls in 2027.
In his forthcoming autobiography Drive, Horner revisits Red Bull’s search for a replacement for Sergio Pérez, explaining that he was uncomfortable with the decision to select Lawson after just 11 Formula 1 starts.
The former team principal’s account provides a more explicit assessment of the promotion than the explanation offered when Lawson was demoted after only two Grands Prix.
Horner admits Red Bull demanded too much from Lawson
Red Bull had explored alternatives before selecting Lawson for 2025. As GRANDE PRÊMIO reported in its coverage of Horner’s revelations about Fernando Alonso, the former team principal had considered more experienced drivers, including Alonso and Charles Leclerc.
Neither possibility progressed, leaving Red Bull to choose between candidates from its own development programme.
Lawson had shown promise during substitute appearances for Racing Bulls, but had never completed a full Formula 1 season.
Horner has now acknowledged that the promotion placed excessive demands on the young driver.
“But I didn’t feel comfortable with it,” Horner wrote in Drive, explaining that Lawson’s limited experience made the assignment particularly difficult.
The Briton subsequently reached a more severe conclusion, admitting that Lawson should not have been promoted at that stage of his career.
The New Zealander struggled in Australia and China, failing to score before Red Bull replaced him with Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The demotion became one of the most controversial driver decisions of the 2025 season, raising questions about whether Red Bull had given Lawson sufficient time to adapt to the senior team’s car and working environment.
Lawson’s 2026 results offer a different perspective
Lawson’s subsequent recovery has made Horner’s admission particularly relevant.
The 24-year-old has established himself as Racing Bulls’ leading points scorer, delivering competitive performances throughout 2026 despite temporarily returning to Red Bull when Isack Hadjar was injured.
His head-to-head record against rookie Arvid Lindblad demonstrates the progress made since the difficult opening races of 2025.
According to GRANDE PRÊMIO’s detailed Lawson–Lindblad comparison, Lawson leads his teammate 10–4 in Grand Prix results and 9–5 in qualifying across their 14 shared weekends.
Lawson has scored 61 points for Racing Bulls, compared with Lindblad’s 38, although the New Zealander’s overall championship total also includes points earned during his temporary return to Red Bull.
The distinction matters because Lawson’s contribution to Racing Bulls should not be confused with his total points across two teams.
His performances have helped Racing Bulls maintain fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship and strengthened his position ahead of the team’s 2027 driver decision.
Singapore radio reveals pressure behind Lawson’s recovery
Lawson’s recent results have not come without difficult moments.
At the Singapore Grand Prix, he finished seventh after resisting pressure from Nico Hülkenberg and George Russell during the closing stages.
However, previously unheard radio messages revealed that Lawson had panicked when Russell began closing in, despite ultimately maintaining his position.
The result was particularly valuable because Racing Bulls collected points while several direct rivals struggled.
Lawson had also finished fifth in the Singapore sprint, completing another productive weekend as speculation continued over his future.
The performances provide evidence of a driver who has become more consistent and competitive since returning to the junior team, although they do not establish what he would have achieved had Red Bull retained him in 2025.
Horner’s admission adds to Red Bull’s driver controversy
Horner’s latest comments also need to be considered alongside his earlier statements about Lawson’s demotion.
The former Red Bull boss previously suggested that removing the driver after only two races had not been his preferred decision, pointing to pressure from Helmut Marko and the team’s internal driver-development structure.
Those comments concern a different question from whether Lawson should have been promoted in the first place.
It is possible to believe that the original promotion was premature while also considering the subsequent demotion unnecessarily abrupt.
Red Bull’s difficulty finding a consistently competitive teammate for Verstappen extended beyond Lawson, with Pérez and Tsunoda also experiencing problems in the second car.
Hadjar eventually took the senior seat for 2026, while Lawson returned to Racing Bulls.
Lawson has repeatedly emphasised that he intends to concentrate on his performances rather than speculate about the next driver announcement.
Racing Bulls has not officially confirmed its 2027 line-up, although Lawson and Lindblad remain strong candidates.
Formula 1 returns at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 23–25. GRANDE PRÊMIO will follow Lawson’s future and the Red Bull driver decisions through its Formula 1 coverage.
