Red Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner says "concerned" engineers coming to him was part of the team's logic for its brutal Liam Lawson/Yuki Tsunoda swap.
Lawson had just 11 grands prix before he made his senior team debut at the Australian Grand Prix, with two disastrous weekends following that triggered Red Bull's fastest sacking ever.
Horner's revealed that concerns from Red Bull engineers were part of his motivation to make a change.
"I think with everything that we saw in Australia and China, you could see that it was really affecting Liam quite badly," Horner told Sky Sports F1.
"We could have left it, and I think that Liam is a driver with talent. Maybe within half a season he would have got there, but we just don't have that amount of time.
"It was something that was very clear to the engineering side within the team, just how much Liam was struggling with it all, and you could see that weight upon his shoulders.
"The engineers were coming to me very concerned about it, and at the end of the day, I think it was the logical thing to do."
He also revealed a key mistake he now felt Red Bull made: expecting too much too soon from a driver who had such little experience prior to stepping up to the senior team.
"Of course, it's horrible because you're taking away someone's dreams and aspirations, but sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind, and I think that in this instance, this is not the end for Liam," Horner said.
"I was very clear with him: 'it's a sample of two races. I think that we've asked too much of you too soon'.
"We have to accept, I think, we were asking too much of him too soon. And so this is for him to, again, nurture that talent that we know that he has, back in the Racing Bulls seat, whilst giving Yuki the opportunity and looking to make use of the experience that he has."
Lawson didn't see it coming
Lawson claims he didn't see his brutal Red Bull demotion coming.
"It was definitely a shock, honestly. It's not something that I saw coming," Lawson told Sky.
"The discussions we were having as well, I think, weren't really leaning in this direction, so it was definitely not something that I sort of expected."
While being back in the junior team with less pressure could be framed as a positive, Lawson is clear that he "would have loved more time" in the senior team.
"I felt like with more time, especially going to places that I'd been before… it was a tough start. We had a rocky testing. We had a rocky first weekend in Melbourne with practice. And then obviously China was a sprint.
"I think going to places that I'd been before with the way the car was quite tricky, that would have helped and I would have loved that opportunity. But obviously, it's not my decision, so I'm here to make the most of this one."
...Verstappen didn't see it coming either
Horner admits Verstappen "was surprised at the speed" of the decision too even if he was aware of how much Lawson was struggling alongside him.
"[Verstappen] knows where we need to improve on the car. He's been working really hard with the engineering team" Horner added.
"We had a very good session with him last week where he's just very focused on improving the car, finding those final few tenths to get us really on terms with the McLarens ahead."
One of the key motivators of the swap has been for Red Bull to get Tsunoda's feedback to help the team tame the tricky RB21 and not leave Verstappen fighting on his own.
