Red Bull sets clear target for Liam Lawson for first full season

He is the least new of the new faces of the Formula 1. While Liam Lawson is about to start his first full season, he already has 11 Grands Prix under his belt, contested during stints in 2023 and 2024. The New Zealander has only raced with Alpha Tauri/Racing Bulls, but it is under the colors of Red Bull that he will take part in the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.

Lawson will have to acclimate to his new suit, which seemed a little too big for his predecessors. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez broke their teeth on a Max Verstappen increasingly untouchable over the years. It is Lawson's turn to measure himself against the four-time world champion, in search of a fifth consecutive title. Despite his relative inexperience, the arrival of the native of Hastings (New Zealand) owes nothing to chance.

If he was preferred to Yuki tsunoda, who has been hoping for his chance for four years, he owes it to his mentality which makes him " the strongest mentally among our junior drivers ", according to Helmut Marko. "He has the mental strength to race alongside Verstappen and accept that he won't be able to challenge the Dutchman," explained the Austrian, in charge of the young pilots of the Winged Bull, to the German media Sport.

ALSO READ > Lawson expects to suffer in first Grands Prix: "A lot of circuits I've never done before"

Marko puts pressure on Lawson

Thrown into the deep end, Liam Lawson has no choice but to perform in an attempt to firstly go to the end of the season, then to hope for an extension, despite the pressure from Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad behind him. Helmut Marko has already shown himself to be quite ambitious about the objectives set for the 22-year-old driver, who will not really have time to learn his pressure. "He should be constantly in the points and helping Max when needed, not just trying", assures the octogenarian OE24.

If Sergio Pérez had managed to help his leader, especially in 2021 during his first season, the Mexican had not needed to score points every weekend in the following years, as the Red Bull with the number 1 dominated the championship on its own. On the other hand, the native of Guadalajara was expected in 2024, where he failed to bring home a third consecutive team title by finishing only 8th in the championship while his teammate won the title. This is the mission that Liam Lawson will have to fulfill, if the car allows him: to help Red Bull take back what is due to him and his teammate to continue his incredible harvest.

ALSO READ > Horner refutes Verstappen future rumours again