Liam Lawson still processing Red Bull demotion: "The year has just gone"

Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson has said that he's still processing what happened earlier in the season as he was released from his seat in Red Bull, swapping places with Yuki Tsunoda, after just two race weekends.

Speaking with F1.com, Lawson reflected on his brief stint at the Milton Keynes outfit before he was demoted in late March after underwhelming showings at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix. With Tsunoda taking his place for the Japanese Grand Prix, Lawson now finds himself with 12 points while sitting behind the wheel of a Racing Bulls car. 

"Honestly, not really – not yet. I think now it's not quite… I think the summer break is the time everybody mentally switches off, at least for a week or so," Lawson explained when asked if he'd had time to process everything that's happened this year.

"We all know we have a couple more races coming up before then. You're still in that mindset, you're still thinking about what just happened, how we're going to improve in the next couple of races, and how I'm going to improve myself. You're just in it."

After taking Sergio Perez's seat for this season, Lawson endured a nightmare start to his career at Red Bull. Qualifying 18th in the opening race before crashing out in the wet conditions, the following weekend in China saw him qualify at the very back of the grid and finish out of the points. 

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

The decision to replace him was made the following Monday as Red Bull management met in Dubai. 

“I think I would say one thing to be clear about is that between the first couple of races, to the team switch, then going to Japan, mentally for me nothing changed,” he continued.

“It’s been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false. From the start of the year, I felt the same as I always have.

“I think in two races, on tracks I’d never been to, it’s not really enough for my confidence… maybe six months into a season, if I’m still at that level, if the results are still like that, then I’d be feeling something – maybe my confidence would be taking a hit."

Heading towards the midpoint of the season, Lawson is looking ahead after a couple of weeks out of the car. 

"It's nice to have a bit of time to breathe, but mentally I'm thinking about Belgium and Hungary that are coming up, and trying to go into that break with a good couple of races," he said. 

Racing Bulls has been a better environment for the driver, who will be aiming for more consistency in the latter half of the season. But the onslaught of racing is being noticed by the Kiwi.

"Here, you're forced to basically come out of a race weekend, especially on a triple-header, have a day to think about what just happened, and then you're straight away thinking about the next race. You almost get lost in this world," he said. 

"I don't know if it's healthy or not healthy, but you just think about F1, the performance and the result. I sit here now and we're nearly mid-July. The year has just gone. The fact we've done 12 races is insane, and they've just gone by like that."