Helmut Marko backed to make shock Red Bull driver change

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes Liam Lawson would quickly be dropped by Red Bull following his poor start to the season, if its motorsport advisor Helmut Marko was in charge.

After just two races as a Red Bull driver in Australia and China, Lawson is already being rumoured with a shock return to Racing Bulls for the Japanese Grand Prix. 

Lawson has endured a horrific start to the 2025 F1 season, which has seen him fail to progress to the second part of qualifying in any format. 

He qualified in 20th for both the sprint race and the grand prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, whilst he is also yet to score a point.

Marko has confirmed that an urgent meeting will be held this week at the team's Milton Keynes headquarters, to determine how it can save its season. 

The form of Red Bull's second driver is not the Austrian team's only problem, as its car has also received several complaints from Max Verstappen. 

In Schumacher's opinion, Red Bull must fix its car before making another driver change, given the impossible situation Lawson has found himself in.

"I think if it were up to the Dr. [Marko], it would happen quite quickly," Schumacher told Sky DE on the chances of Lawson being swapped with Yuki Tsunoda. "However, one must also consider that the Red Bull is anything but good at the moment. 

"That means a young, new driver comes in and has to go up against arguably the best driver of the current Formula 1 era - someone who has spent years developing the car around himself.

"So no matter who you put in that seat, I suspect he would be sent home again after two or three races. Therefore, I would recommend keeping things as they are for now and focusing on improving the car.

"Last year, Sergio Perez performed well at the start of the season because the car was good, and he struggled towards the end because the car became difficult to drive."