Liam Lawson, a “tricky” first weekend with Red Bull in Australia

Yet almost at home, the confident Liam Lawson seen at the start of the season did not shine with his performances in Australia on the Albert Park circuit. Preferred to Yuki tsunoda by Red Bull To take Sergio Perez's place, the New Zealander wasted a first wild card with the most impatient team on the grid by missing out on his weekend in Melbourne.

When Red Bull “gives wings” to Max Verstappen, the darling of a team centered around him, the successive occupants of the second seat have historically had more difficulty extracting the maximum performance from a very fine-handling Red Bull. Some have paid the price by leaving their position very prematurely. In order to guarantee his future, Helmut Marko has set ambitious objectives for his new driver before the start of the season. "He will have to be constantly in the points and help Max when necessary, not just try.", the director of the youth sector of the Austrian team had specified last February to OE24.

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Christian Horner to the rescue

For Liam Lawson's first Grand Prix in his new suit, nothing went as planned. Suffering from an engine problem in FP3, the Kiwi was barely able to drive or complete any flying laps to prepare for the first qualifying session of the year. A few hours later, the semi-rookie only set the 18th fastest time (out of 19, as Oliver Bearman did not take part in the session) after making two mistakes while overdriving in an attempt to at least advance to Q2, without success. Despite this clear underperformance and a time more than a second behind that set by Max Verstappen, Red Bull boss Christian Horner nevertheless renewed his confidence in him.


« You can't judge Liam on what we've seen so far. That would be very unfair, the British leader estimated. He's had a very difficult weekend so far. Let's see how he goes in the race tomorrow, and then, of course, when we get to some tracks that he's starting to know, I think he'll start to get into the game." If Red Bull is arming itself with patience, it is because it is hiring the most inexperienced driver in its history (11 Grand Prix raced before joining the Austrians). Despite everything, Lawson will be expected to quickly reach the level he needs to influence the reconquest of a constructors' title that was lost in 2024, largely due to the underperformance of Sergio Perez compared to Max Verstappen.

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Liam Lawson, the unlucky one

Having started at the back of the grid on Sunday morning, Liam Lawson had to move up to regain his confidence. The 23-year-old driver remained stuck in the last positions for a long time, trying to survive on a wet track, conditions he had not often faced before in Formula 1While several single-seaters returned to the pits to swap their slick tires for intermediates when the rain intensified, the Kiwi stayed on track to try to gain as many positions as possible. "We took our chances hoping that at least half the track would remain dry, he said after arriving. We knew sector three was bad, but we thought it would stay a bit drier, so we kept going."

Unfortunately, the gamble did not pay off and fitted with medium tires, the grip was too precarious: the car The New Zealander slid into the wall at Turn 2 on lap 47, prematurely ending his first Grand Prix with Red Bull. At that point, to be honest, I had given up pushing because it was so wet, he confessed to F1. I was just trying to stay on the track. But obviously, it's not ideal." In a video published by the team, Christian Horner believes in a "Liam rebounds from China" after "a tricky weekend."  Overdriving to catch up: this is the risk Liam Lawson must not take, as he did in qualifying in Melbourne, but if he was recruited by Red Bull, it's because his character is considered less impetuous than that of Yuki Tsunoda. It's up to him to put Australia behind him to begin his march forward without delay. Because Red Bull gives wings, but also clips them very quickly.

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