Mirror Sport understands Liam Lawson needs to start performing for Red Bull Racing swiftly or face losing the seat alongside Max Verstappen he was only handed in December
Liam Lawson is under pressure to produce vastly improved results – or face the same fate as Sergio Perez. Lawson was promoted to Red Bull Racing from the junior team after the Mexican was shown the door at the end of last season.
However, just two weekends into his Red Bull Racing career, his seat is already under threat. He has endured a miserable start to life as Max Verstappen’s team-mate, failing to progress from Q1 in each of his three qualifying sessions to date.
Lawson was 20th and dead last in qualifying for both the sprint race and the main Grand Prix in China. Speaking after the latter session, he shouldered the blame and admitted what he is producing is “not good enough”.
But it will take more than honest self-criticism for Lawson to save his seat. While Mirror Sport understands there is no official timeline for the 23-year-old to find his form, driver development chief Helmut Marko has hinted that he may have just weeks to prove himself.
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“Don’t write him off yet,” he told Austrian media. “Let’s wait for the first three races. Those are at different circuits. After that, a clearer picture will emerge.” The third race of the season will be the Japanese Grand Prix, held at Suzuka on April 6.
Red Bull delayed their decision over Perez’s future last season and ended up paying the price for their inaction – the Mexican’s struggles contributed significantly to their failure to defend their constructors’ championship crown.
With that in mind, the Milton Keynes-based outfit is reluctant to waste too much time again this year if they feel another driver would be better placed to get results. “F1 is a performance sport and in the end thats what counts,” Marko told Sky Germany, when asked if another mid-season driver swap is on the cards.
Red Bull sources suggest Lawson needs to start performing quickly if he is to enjoy a long-term future as Verstappen’s team-mate. Yuki Tsunoda was overlooked in favour of Lawson when it came to choosing who to promote to Perez’s seat last winter, but the Japanese has started the new season strongly with Racing Bulls and may yet get his chance after all.
Isack Hadjar would be a more left-field choice given the Chinese Grand Prix will be his first experience of a full-distance F1 race. But, other than his crash on the formation lap in Melbourne, he too has impressed across the first two weekends of the new season including qualifying seventh in Shanghai, two places ahead of Tsunoda.
“We are taking the time to analyse [the situation],” said Marko. “There are a few [drivers] recommending themselves. I wouldn’t say imposing, but thank God we are in good shape.”
