Liam Lawson has 'point to prove' to Red Bull

Liam Lawson is now out to 'prove a point' to Red Bull following his rapid and demoralising demotion after just two grands prix.

The speed at which Red Bull decided to act, just over three months after Lawson was anointed the successor to Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen's team-mate, caught almost all by surprise - including the New Zealander who fully expected to be in the RB21 for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

Instead, it is Yuki Tsunoda, overlooked for Lawson at the end of last year, who now finds himself in the RB21 hot seat, whilst the latter is forced to contend himself with a place back with Racing Bulls.

Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies has insisted Lawson is "in a good place", albeit with his driver fully aware of what is now required of him.

"I'm not going to tell you that he was happy about the news last week, because certainly it was difficult to digest," said Mekies, speaking to media, including RacingNews365.

"But honestly, the next day, he was with us in France for the seat fit. The day after, he was back in the sim, and then, here we are in Japan.

"So he's in good spirits. He knows he has an important role to play with us in the battle we have in the midfield. He knows he has a point to prove out there.

"We are all very conscious that his talent is there and it's about finding the right conditions to extract it back."

Lawson talent 'has not disappeared'

Much will depend on just how much of Lawson's confidence has been shattered by a damning few weeks with Red Bull which saw him crash in Australia, finish slowest in qualifying for the sprint and grand prix in China, and fail to score over a point over the two races.

Mekies recognises an arm is required around Lawson to initially pick him up after being "surprised" by his performances in the first two races.

'Nobody was expecting he would be back of the grid for these two races," added Mekies. "It was certainly a very tricky set of circumstances. But to tell you that any of us would have anticipated that would be a lie.

"That being said, with high confidence we think his talent did not disappear. And we start back at the team where we left it last year."