Red Bull Racing are set to make the decision of giving Max Verstappen a new teammate in the championship, as Liam Lawson will be taking off Red Bull after only two races of the 2025 season.
Verstappen is second in the championship standings with 36 points, having finished second in Australia before coming in fourth in the main race in Shanghai after finishing second in the Sprint before it.
But Red Bull find themselves 42 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ standings and 21 points behind Mercedes, owing to Lawson’s struggles in the championship so far.
Lawson qualified last for the Sprint and main race last time out in Shanghai before finishing 14th and 12th respectively after Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon were disqualified from the race.
This was after the 23-year-old New Zealander endured a nightmare F1 debut as he qualified 18th then failed to finish the season-opening race at the Australian GP in Melbourne after crashing in the rain.
Lawson’s misfortunes have led Red Bull to have him switch places with Yuki Tsunoda of the Racing Bulls – Red Bull’s second team – ahead of the next race of the season at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan.
The switch, first confirmed by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, is expected to be confirmed soon before the race which takes place in next weekend, according to BBC Sport.