Once upon a time, there was a Liam Lawson...

The case of Lawson's dismissal is not only frightening because it is, in fact, unprecedented even in the grim world of Formula 1 to dismiss someone after just two races. It is much more about the underlying message.

New Zealand is anything but a motorsport nation, and Liam Lawson is anything but a super talent. It would be pointless to argue with this, as these are FACTS. We have already seen real examples of both, and they certainly do not look like the (former) driver of Red Bull Racing and his background. Helmut Marko and Christian Horner were well aware of this, as they closely observed how Tsunoda, who has now taken Lawson's place, consistently outperformed him in every metric. And not just him, but every teammate suffering at Racing Bulls. He considers, adheres to, and respects every request, desire, and sigh. He is changing as a driver, changing as a person, subjugating everything to meet expectations. Nevertheless, it is still not clear that he will get the Red Bull seat...

By the way, let there be no misunderstanding, I do not think that Tsunoda is a driver at RBR level, someone who can be expected to win races and actively contribute to the constructors' championship battle. But he is certainly more suitable for this task than Lawson. It’s just that pesky money. They don’t even leave the illusion that anything else would matter to them when selecting a driver. Or even sadder: They don’t even leave the illusion that ANYTHING ELSE MATTERS.

Because if it did matter (at a company with such possibilities as Red Bull, I don’t understand this whole mindset), they would certainly take Fernando Alonso, who has been sitting idle for years, much more deserving of a better fate, willing to do anything for success, “capable of dying for it,” and seat him next to Max Verstappen. A driver with whom the team could place itself in another dimension both historically and economically in sports. If they valued the sporting aspect of Formula 1 even a little bit instead of just chasing business and mega-extraprofits, they would say, “We, Red Bull Racing, will give the fans what they have always wanted. Damn it, let it be Rock’n’Roll!” Because they can.

True, they can also ruin deserving young talents on an assembly line and produce new Liam Lawsons every season. It is sad that they exercise this right.

Photo: Planet F1