Red Bull’s decision to promote Liam Lawson is arguably the most controversial development of 2024. The Kiwi will be under immense scrutiny against teammate Max Verstappen – but Lawson has been advised to manage his expectations.
Lawson warned against repeating mistakes of past teammates
Since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from Red Bull, the team have struggled to find a replacement.
The Milton Keynes squad replaced Albon and Gasly with the same haste they promoted them – only to keep Sergio Perez for too long in what became a painful final season.
After four seasons of improvement at VCARB, Yuki Tsunoda was deemed by analysts as Red Bull’s best option for 2025.
However, the Austrian team chose to put their faith in Liam Lawson.
Despite his limited experience, Lawson has been entrusted with bringing the constructors title back to Milton Keynes.
In the context of how Max Verstappen’s previous teammates have performed, the 22-year-old has a mountain to climb.
Looking ahead to next year’s campaign, Helmut Marko has cautioned Lawson against having the wrong approach:
“Gradually he will have to improve as much as possible,” he told Sport.de
“But always keeping in mind that he is driving alongside the best F1 driver at the moment.
“In doing so, he should not get involved in the technical side of things – such as set-ups and strategies, for example. Something other teammates have done in the past.
“Liam will have to accept that Verstappen is the best.
“We will see how close he can get, but he should not get in the car with the aim of beating Verstappen.
“That has gone wrong with all his teammates.”
A blessing and a curse for Lawson
On paper, going up against Max Verstappen with less than a season of F1 experience is a daunting challenge.
Indeed, Red Bull risk making the same mistake with Lawson as they did with Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.
With that said, the Austrian team can be expected to give the Kiwi time to adapt.
Considering that Sergio Perez was struggling to make Q3 and barely scoring points at the end of his Red Bull stint, Lawson does not have to perform miracles to be an improvement.
Provided the 22-year-old can consistently score points and fight for top 5 finishes, Red Bull will see his promotion as a success.
Having failed with their previous appointments to the main team, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are unlikely to backtrack on their latest decision so quickly.
This means that Liam Lawson will be the beneficiary of some breathing space – at least in the opening rounds.
Red Bull running out of options
Assuming that Red Bull continue to overlook Tsunoda, there won’t be any obvious alternatives anyway.
It is also feasible that Yuki Tsunoda runs out of patience and looks elsewhere on the grid in 2025,
Before Red Bull activated their option to extend Tsunoda’s VCARB contract, he was the recipient of interest from across the paddock.
Should the Japanese driver find an opening for 2026, Red Bull will be scrambling to fill both their teams.
Because of this, unless there is a complete U-turn on their Tsunoda stance, the Milton Keynes squad might have no choice but to keep Lawson at the team.
If Red Bull want another year of a driver merry-go-round, they are unlikely to replace Lawson easily.
