Lawson delivered "too little" and promoting him was a "mistake"

Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has admitted the team made a mistake by promoting Liam Lawson to its line-up this year.

The team confirmed today it has dropped Lawson with immediate effect. He will return to the other Red Bull-owned F1 team, Racing Bulls, while Yuki Tsunoda will take his former seat.

While technical trouble in testing meant Lawson completed the fewest laps of almost any driver, Marko singled out the problem which struck in final practice at Melbourne as being particularly costly.

“In Australia he had a turbo failure in the third practice session,” Marko told OE24. “The mileage he lost as a result is costing him.

Liam Lawson's shock early exit from Red Bull examined in five charts — **Analysis: Hired to fired in 98 days – Lawson’s shock early exit from Red Bull in five charts**

“What he has delivered so far has, of course, been too little. We need a strong second driver, if only for team strategy.”

The team’s decision to promote Lawson instead of Tsunoda at the end of last season was widely questioned at the time. Tsunoda tested for Red Bull late last year but Marko said the team was fully behind the decision to promote Lawson at the time.

“Yuki was too inconsistent,” he said. “That’s why we unanimously decided on Lawson.

“But under the increased pressure, he wasn’t able to perform – right from the first day in Australia. Then he got caught in a downward spiral. It’s like a struggling boxer – it’s very difficult to get out of. In that sense, it was a mistake.”

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Tsunoda has out-qualified Lawson for all three races so far this year, including the sprint event at Shanghai. However Marko does not believe Racing Bulls’ car is a match for the Red Bull.

“It’s true that the RB21 is difficult to drive,” he said. “The Racing Bull[s] is easier to handle and very quick over a single qualifying lap. But in race conditions, it lags well behind the Red Bull Racing car.”