Christian Horner reflects on 'horrible' call to strip Liam Lawson of Red Bull seat

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stated it was “horrible” to inform Liam Lawson that he would not be driving for the team at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Lawson endured a difficult opening two rounds with Red Bull in Australia and China as he struggled for pace at the back of the field.

Red Bull opted to make a driver swap ahead of the third round of the season with Yuki Tsunoda replacing the New Zealander at the senior team.

Lawson described the news as a “shock” as he anticipated he would be given more time to perform.

Horner asserted the decision to send Lawson back to Racing Bulls does not dent his F1 prospects for the future.

"Of course, it's horrible because you're taking away someone's dreams and aspirations, but sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind, and I think that in this instance, this is not the end for Liam,” Horner told Sky F1.

"I was very clear with him, is that it's a sample of two races. We have to accept, I think we were asking too much of him too soon. 

“And so this is for him to, again, nurture that talent that we know that he has, back in the Racing Bulls seat, whilst giving Yuki the opportunity and looking to make use of the experience that he has."

Horner reveals engineer concerns over Lawson struggles

Lawson failed to progress past the Q1 qualifying segment in Australia and China and could not get close to scoring points in the races.

Horner has revealed the engineers were concerned about how much Lawson was struggling at an early stage, leading the team to make the decision to swap its drivers.

“I think with everything that we saw in Australia and China, you could see that it was really affecting Liam quite badly.

“We could have left it, and I think that Liam is a driver with talent. Maybe within half a season he would have got there, but we just don't have that amount of time.

“It was something that was very clear to the engineering side within the team, just how much Liam was struggling with it all, and you could see that weight upon his shoulders.

“The engineers were coming to me very concerned about it, and at the end of the day, I think it was the logical thing to do.”