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THINGS are about to get a lot more awkward between long-term rivals Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. Habitually ruthless Red Bull have dropped Lawson for sister team driver Tsunoda after just TWO races of the 2025 season. Lawson (23) has been dumped by Red Bull chiefs after failing to get to grips with the RB21 during the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix. With the structure set up between Red Bull Racing and sister team Racing Bulls, driver rotations are possible among the four seats. Lawson’s nightmare season began with him dropping out in Q1 at the Aussie GP, before crashing out of the opening race in Melbourne. A week later, the Kiwi again qualified last in both the sprint and race for the Shanghai GP — despite sitting in the second-best car in F1 last season. The RB21 might be tailored for Max Verstappen, but mustering a P15 finish in Shanghai was too much for team principal Christian Horner. Meanwhile, Tsunoda — who earns nearly double Lawson’s £800 000 salary — qualified fifth in Australia and ninth in China but finished outside of the top 10 for both races, due to strategy calls. The decision to overlook Tsunoda for Lawson when replacing Sergio Perez — who endured a nightmare 2024 season — before Christmas was a strange one. Having already spent four years in F1, Tsunoda is significantly more experienced than Lawson, who had entered only 11 grands prix in two short spells across 2023 and 2024. Tsunoda (24) will be given a baptism of fire on home soil as he’ll officially replace Lawson at the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend. Meanwhile, the New Zealander will return to second team Racing Bulls as team-mate to French rookie Isack Hadjar. But there appears to be no love lost between Lawson and his replacement driver, who have known each other since their teens. — Online