Formula One journalist Chris Medland speaks to Mike Hosking about Red Bull’s handling of Liam Lawson. Video / Newstalk ZB
Panic is setting in at Red Bull after only four races into the 2025 Formula One season, with motorsport adviser Helmut Marko saying he has “great concerns” about Max Verstappen’s future with the team.
Red Bull have been the premier team in recent years, claiming the last constructors’ championship in 2022 and 2023, while Verstappen won the last four drivers’ championships.
But the wheels have fallen off in 2025, with Red Bull dropping Kiwi driver Liam Lawson after only two races, replacing him with Yuki Tsunoda, while Verstappen sits third in the drivers’ standings, behind McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and leader Lando Norris.
McLaren’s domination means they hold an 80-point buffer in the team standings.
Speaking to Sky Germany, Marko admitted Red Bull was a long way off competing for titles.
“The concern is great. Improvements have to come in the near future, so that he [Verstappen] has a car with which he can win again,” Marko said.
“We have to create a basis with a car so that he can fight for the world championship.
“We have to get, as soon as possible, performance in the car again and also standards like a pit stop have to work. The car is not the fastest and then the pit stops are not working. That is not acceptable.”
Verstappen’s Red Bull contract runs to the end of the 2028 season, but there has been speculation he could seek a move elsewhere.
Adding fuel to the fire is that Verstappen’s manager, Raymond Vermeulen, reportedly had an exchange of words with Marko after his sixth-placed finish in Bahrain.
Following Lawson’s demotion to Racing Bulls, Verstappen liked an Instagram post by former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde that criticised the team for their move.
Max Verstappen shown liking the post by Giedo Van der Garde.
When asked about it, the Dutchman said: “I liked the comment, the text, so I guess it speaks for itself, right?”
After failing to finish in the season opener in Melbourne and then placing 12th in Shanghai, Lawson was dropped to Red Bull’s second team, where the results also haven’t been good, finishing 17th and 16th respectively in Japan and Bahrain.
Lawson started Monday’s (NZT) race in Bahrain in 17th and ended up crossing the line in 13th, but was demoted after two time penalties.
“I was pretty much just on a gearbox of a car the entire race,” he said after the race.
“We had really good speed, just couldn’t use it. To be honest, the only way I could overtake was lunging quite late, I wasn’t intentionally touching with others, but it is what it is.
“It’s a shame we don’t have a result to show it, the car was really fast in quali, didn’t get to show it and then the car was really fast in the race, but you don’t get to show it from the back.”
The 23-year-old is one of four drivers set to score points this season.
