Max Verstappen hasn’t been shy about letting the world know how annoyed he is at Red Bull’s dramatic driver swap.

The reigning F1 world champion has a new teammate just two races into the season after Liam Lawson was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.

Getty

The pair both competed for Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls last year before Lawson got the nod to partner Verstappen in December.

However, after the New Zealander failed to score a point across the opening two grands prix the decision was made to swap the two.

Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, who have a close relationship with the Verstappen family, revealed that Red Bull’s No.1 driver wasn’t happy with the call.

His father, Jos, who has acted as an unofficial spokesperson for his son in recent years, was among the people to publicly wish Lawson the best after the news broke on social media.

Verstappen himself then tellingly liked a post on Instagram saying Red Bull’s actions ‘comes closer to bullying or a panic move’.

Now, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has confirmed the team are aware that their superstar driver disagreed with their decision.

“We know Max is not happy,” admitted Marko to De Telegraaf.

“But we need two cars at the front. Not only for the Constructors’ Championship, but also to help Max get his fifth world title.

“Then you can strategically achieve more in races. We can use Yuki’s experience and form well now.

“That’s what counts. At the end of the day, that’s to the team’s advantage. And so that means also in favour of Max.”

Getty

Instagram

Eyebrows were raised when Red Bull promoted Lawson, who only had 11 races in F1 under his belt, over the more experienced Tsunoda.

During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT, team principal Christian Horner detailed Lawson’s character and ability to deal with the pressure of being Verstappen’s teammate.

However, less than 100 days later, Marko revealed the 23-year-old was demoted after losing confidence in Red Bull’s problematic RB21.

In addition to not scoring a single point, Lawson failed to escape the first part of qualifying across any format and qualified in last for both the Chinese Grand Prix sprint and the main race.

“Liam has had the necessary bad luck,” Marko added.

“During the test days in Bahrain, he missed a lot of time because of mechanical problems. And also during the third free practice in Australia he lost important time.

Getty

“Then the problems started. The pressure on him got bigger and bigger. He lost confidence, started trying harder and harder, but made more mistakes as a result.

“In China it went from bad to worse. Added to that, our car is very difficult to drive, and not the fastest.”

That latter admission has proved to be among Verstappen’s other gripes with Red Bull and part of his sympathy towards Lawson.

The 27-year-old has become increasingly frustrated with his team’s regression since dominating both F1 championships in 2023.

Only a strong start to last season gave Verstappen the platform to clinch a fourth Drivers’ title after enduring a 10-race winless streak – his longest barren run since 2020 – while Red Bull finished third in the constructors’ standings.

Verstappen’s fears about the RB21 during testing have since been realised, with his car’s package significantly inferior to McLaren.

The Belgian-born driver, who is a long-time Mercedes target despite being under contract until 2028, has regularly said his priority is to be in a race-winning car.

Red Bull held a crisis meeting at their factory on Thursday in which their prized asset’s concerns were a key talking point.

Marko told Austrian outlet OE24: “This meeting is primarily about Max sitting down with the technicians and going through the next steps.

“The aim is to calmly address Max’s wishes and criticisms.”