{"id":32263,"date":"2025-04-02T04:39:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T08:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=32263"},"modified":"2025-04-02T04:39:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T08:39:46","slug":"why-both-vcarb-drivers-are-under-growing-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/02\/why-both-vcarb-drivers-are-under-growing-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Why both VCARB drivers are under growing pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For all the focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/31\/max-verstappen-exit-clauses-put-red-bull-under-pressure\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull&#8217;s driver line-up<\/a>, there are plenty of question marks surrounding the VCARB duo. For different reasons, Lawson&#8217;s early demotion could\u00a0 have significant implications moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>Like any rookie, Hadjar must prove himself as being F1-calibre over the 24-round season. Having recovered strongly from his Australia disappointment in Shanghai, the Frenchman is already showing positive signs.<\/p>\n<p>Still, he must perform consistently to ensure Red Bull retain him beyond 2025.<\/p>\n<p>On the opposite side of the garage, Liam Lawson must ensure his demotion does not trigger a bigger decline.<\/p>\n<p>Should the Kiwi fail to re-assert himself at Faenza, Red Bull won&#8217;t hesitate to replace him with one of their most highly rated juniors.<\/p>\n<h2>Why Lawson must rebound at VCARB<\/h2>\n<p>It would be hyperbolic to suggest that Lawson&#8217;s career is in immediate jeopardy after his Red Bull demotion.<\/p>\n<p>Several drivers, from Pierre Gasly to Alex Albon, have built respectable careers for themselves since leaving the Milton Keynes squad.<\/p>\n<p>Even <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/28\/sergio-perez-in-talks-for-f1-comeback-in-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Sergio Perez&#8217;s market value<\/a> is on the rise, with Lawson&#8217;s performances prompting a re-evaluation of the Mexican driver&#8217;s efforts last year.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, Lawson must establish himself as the lead driver at VCARB.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"cAYkqJSHR-JonNuML93Shw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2206478820\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'cAYkqJSHR-JonNuML93Shw',sig:'AUFFnzrEhu6-bYYO7pllVrbgHnrM3sp9Duu2urASPqw=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2206478820',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Although he doesn&#8217;t even have a full F1 season under his belt, the Kiwi is still VCARB&#8217;s more experienced driver.<\/p>\n<p>Even with the abrupt nature of his move to the b-team, Red Bull will expect the 23-year-old to outperform teammate Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n<p>Should he fail to accomplish this on a regular basis, Lawson will be vulnerable looking ahead to 2026.<\/p>\n<p>His position will be especially precarious if Tsunoda manages to find some pace in the RB21 &#8211; which will paint a less sympathetic picture of his two race weekends at Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, it is also true that, should Tsunoda encounter significant difficulty, Lawson&#8217;s own results will be looked upon more favourably.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it is essential for the 23-year-old to restore his reputation after a nightmare start to 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Lawson could serve a similar function to what <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/31\/yuki-tsunoda-gives-positive-feedback-after-rb21-simulator-session\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> did from 2023-25.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his poor form at Red Bull, he is still fast enough for Red Bull to use as a reference against other drivers &#8211; including Hadjar.<\/p>\n<p>In the same way that Tsunoda was constantly tasked with outperforming new teammates, Lawson must get the better of Hadjar.<\/p>\n<p>If not, particularly since his Red Bull swap, his market value could drop sharply.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"xv-HLqTmRh1Vmnx2-5210Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2206486418\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'xv-HLqTmRh1Vmnx2-5210Q',sig:'J1xUdfzXHGH4CF2bSILWRH3OVgmIscGG3IeyXbtNRgg=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2206486418',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Hadjar showing promise, Lindblad waiting in the wings<\/h4>\n<p>Heading into this year, Hadjar was one of the rookies with relatively little hype surrounding his debut.<\/p>\n<p>Within just two race weekends, however, his pace relative to Tsunoda has impressed the paddock.<\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old clearly has potential, which he can further demonstrate against his new teammate.<\/p>\n<p>When Lawson replaced Ricciardo after the Singapore GP, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/24\/yuki-tsunoda-did-very-well-in-red-bull-test-horner\/\" target=\"_self\">Christian Horner<\/a> did not set him the target of outperforming Tsunoda.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, staying within a few tenths of his more experienced teammate was deemed a success for the #30 car. The dynamics will likely be similar at VCARB.<\/p>\n<p>As the younger less experienced driver, Hadjar can strengthen his position just by staying within a respectable distance of Lawson.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the reason why both drivers perform well this year is that Red Bull are investing heavily in their next prodigy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/11\/tsunoda-and-hadjar-already-under-pressure-at-rb\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Arvid Lindblad<\/a>, currently competing in Formula 2, is rated extremely highly by Helmut Marko.<\/p>\n<p>Lindblad is seen as the most exciting prospect within the Red Bull ranks. The team have already arranged several TPC tests for the 17-year-old, to give him mileage in F1 machinery.<\/p>\n<p>He is also expected to complete several FP1 sessions this year, such is Red Bull&#8217;s eagerness to ramp up his F1 mileage.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead to 2026, it seems probable that Lindblad could join VCARB.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on Tsunoda&#8217;s efforts at Red Bull, this could put both Hadjar and Lawson on the ejector seat over the coming rounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For all the focus on Red Bull&#8217;s driver line-up, there are plenty of question marks surrounding the VCARB duo. For different reasons, Lawson&#8217;s early demotion could\u00a0 have significant implications moving forward. Like any rookie, Hadjar must prove himself as being F1-calibre over the 24-round season. Having recovered strongly from his Australia disappointment in Shanghai, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":32270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2452,1750,1755,2245,78],"class_list":["post-32263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-isack-hadjar","tag-liam-lawson","tag-racing-bulls","tag-red-bull-racing"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32271,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32263\/revisions\/32271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}