'Red Bull blocked Audi and Williams moves: No way back for Lawson now'

Whereas Sergio Perez was given the vote of confidence for years even when he was never able to truly match Verstappen's qualifying or race form, Lawson will have only been allowed to race for Red Bull for merely two Grand Prix. "Even by Red Bull’s standards, this is extreme," states the journal. 

'Red Bull are extreme, unsurprising and brutal'

Extreme, but unsurprising and not least brutal, is how the New Zealand Herald views the alleged decision made by team Principal Christian Horner and the team's chief advisor, Helmut Marko. "Red Bull has a history of chopping and changing drivers if gaps to teammate and world champion Max Verstappen are too large. In another, though, this would be the most brutal of the lot. Lawson has driven only two grands prix for Red Bull – at Melbourne and Shanghai."

After illustrating a rather dejected Lawson who walks with helmet in hand, leaving a pair of wings and feathers in his wake, with captions reading: "Red Bull clips your wings," the journal acknowledging that Lawson did struggle never having made it past Q1 or scoring a single point for the team across both weekends so far, using a playful jibe at the energy drink company's slogan.

They also highlight that this Red Bull car is, in their vie,w the most difficult of them all. "This year, even Verstappen has made noises about how much more difficulty he’s had in driving the RB21, after McLaren stormed to back-to-back race wins."

With the Kiwi driver's demotion, this would be the least amount of time any Red Bull driver has been given the journal notes, with Perez at 90 races, Alex Albon at 26 and Pierre Gasly, the least amount of all in recent times, at 12 Grand Prix weekends. 

'Racing Bulls could be what Lawson needs'

"Given his struggles in the Red Bull car, demotion to Racing Bulls could be exactly what Lawson needs right now. It’s a more forgiving car, with much greater margin for error than what he’s been asked to drive so far," explains the New Zealand Herald.

After stating that Red Bull had allegedly blocked Lawson's potential moves to Sauber, to become Audi in 2026, and Williams last year as the incumbent replacement to the then-ousted Logan Sargeant, options to remain in F1 seem to be limited now for him.

The journal looks to Cadillac which is set to join the grid in 2026, opening up two seats, which are understood will go to American driver, Colton Herta (Indycar, should he get the points he needs to obtain an F1 superlicense), and an experienced driver to join the American, rendering Lawson's chances of nabbing a seat at the General Motors-backed team almost null.

The New Zealand Herald does see that, 'should the reports from the Netherlands stack up', his time at Red Bull is not only up, but it will never come again. "If Red Bull have truly made the decision to move on from Lawson after just two races, there cannot be any way back from here."