Liam Lawson opens up on the struggles which followed him in F1 Chinese GP, as Christian Horner adds on the situation and rumours around him.
It has taken just two races for the axe rumours to fall on Red Bull’s Lawson. He came in with 11 races behind him and whole lot of talk that he is the one who can deliver under pressure unlike the ones who tried before him and the ones eyeing a spot from the junior ladder.
But it has been a struggle for Lawson. He has had issues both in qualifying and also in the races. The car has been changed multiple times under parc ferme to suit his style, but it just hasn’t clicked as he admits to it too. He accepts it is a tough situation that he has found himself in.
He doesn’t have time to test different things considering they are into a hectic season. Team boss Horner backs him to deliver, but crucially notes that they have the data to assess if he can come out of the slumber and perform as they want him to, not just in 2025 but beyond that too.
Horner sheds light on how Red Bull has developed a car using the feedback of the drivers, which is not driver centric. But with more front-end deployed, the car eventually suits more to Max Verstappen’s need. As a result, anyone fitting into the team has to learn that way to perform.
Horner didn’t wish to dwell into rumours. The reports are all over which links Yuki Tsunoda to take up the Red Bull drive from Japan itself, with Lawson moving back to Visa Cash App RB. Another report linked Franco Colapinto to take up the Visa Cash App RB seat alongside Isack Hadjar.
It noted that Lawson then would be out of a F1 seat, with Colapinto taking Tsunoda’s place after a loan switch from Alpine. The Kiwi, meanwhile, didn’t wish to say much to the Japanese driver’s notion about driving the Red Bull car in Japan, that he would be ready to do so if asked.
Race –
Lawson: “We knew it was going to be tough and we started from the pitlane to try something with the car, and it unfortunately just didn’t work the way we wanted it to. What was really just a hard weekend was just a bit harder today. Today some of those questions were answered. It’s the way it is right now. Unfortunately I don’t really have time to test and get used to it, but I need to figure it out as quickly as I can.”
Horner: “I think Liam’s had a tough, tough couple of races, a tough weekend here. We elected to take him off the grid, out of parc ferme to do a significant setup change. And so we’ve managed to get 56 laps of reasonable data. From that, obviously we’ll take that away and we’ll have a good look at it. And as a group, we’ll do our best to support him.”
Lacking where –
Lawson: “Normally, it’s just a couple of places, to be honest. Like in quali a lot of lap is actually very similar, it is just a couple of places normally but overall it is just how the car drives, it is just very small window, I think Max is just able to get in and have the car in the limit. He knows where the limit is everywhere and be very comfortable with it and it is just something I am figuring out.”
Tough situation –
Lawson: “Yeah, it’s obviously extremely tough. It’s not something I’m enjoying, but I’m honestly working as hard as I can to get on top of it.”
What said about time –
Lawson: “It’s more.., as in we’re in the season, I don’t have time to test the car and get used to it, but we’re in the season really, so each race we’re losing points. That’s more or less what I mean when I don’t have time. But I’m also not stupid and I know that obviously I’m here to perform and if I’m not doing that, I’m not going to be around. For me, I’m just focused on getting used to the car as quickly as I can.”
Horner: “I think they get up to speed pretty quickly and we just continue to evaluate it and take away the stack of data to look into, that’s what we will do.”
Team –
Lawson: “It is safe to say none of us are happy. I don’t know what more to say to that.”
Fast in Racing Bulls, unfortunate with new tracks, etc –
Lawson: “I don’t think that matters, honestly. I need to be fast in this car. Regarding tracks, it is not really, it is not really an excuse. We all are on the same boat, so.”
Horner: “I think the Racing Bull is a more settled car in terms of it probably is a little more stable on entry. It probably has a bit more understeer in that car and therefore is easier to adapt to but you can see the difference in pace in the cars on a longer stint. But I think, in terms of finding the limit in a car that has inherent understeer, it is always going to be easier than finding the limit in a car that is a little more edgy.”
Rumours, Tsunoda –
Lawson: “I’ve raced him for years, raced him in junior categories and beat him – and I did in F1 as well, so he can say whatever he wants.”
Horner: “There’s always going to be speculation in the paddock. We’ve only just finished the race here. We’ll take away the info and have a good look at it. Everything is purely speculative at the moment. As I said, we’ve just finished this race. We’re going to take away the info and have a good look at it. There’s nothing specific that’s been set up [as Helmut Marko suggested]. Yuki…I would say particularly Isack as a rookie has been very strong. Yuki is an experienced driver now doing a great job. He was unlucky, from what I can see from the race plots, with strategy and a front-wing issue today. But again, last weekend he was doing a good job.
“Yuki tested very well, as did Isack Hadjar, it is a useful data set but that’s all it is. You have to look always at the broader picture. You look at the information, you look at the data, and at the end there’s 400 engineers in our team that are all trawling through the 600 sensors that are on the car, so there’s an awful lot of information that we have. With Liam, there’s so much info, how he’s adapted to driving the car, and what he’s getting from the car. What can we do to help? Where are his major issues, what’s causing inconsistency? All of those issues.”
Why difficult in second car, experience driver can drive –
Horner: “Let’s remember that Checo finished second in the world championship two years ago. The car is difficult to drive, and Max is able to adjust to that. Liam is obviously, confidence-wise, struggling with the car at the moment, which is why we made some significant changes today to see if we could find a more confidence-inspiring setup for him. It is subjective, if I think back beginning of 2022, we had quite a stable car but bit of understeer in it which obviously Max hates.
“We had an upgrade in Spain where we put a lot more front in the car and Max made a big step forward, Checo nose-dived from that point. You’ve got to produce the quickest car and you’re driven by the information that you have and the data that you have. As a team, we don’t set out to make a car driver-centric. You just work on the info that you have and the feedback that you have to produce the fastest car that you can. That’s obviously served us very well with 122 victories.”
Support to Lawson, if he can do it –
Horner: “I think Liam still has got potential. We’re just not realising that at the moment. I think the problem for him is he’s had a couple of really tough weekends. He’s got all the media on his back, a whole bunch of pressure that just naturally grows in this business. I feel very sorry for him that you can see it’s very tough on him at the moment. He’s a young guy. We’ve got a duty to look after him and we’re going to do the best that we can to support him. Liam is still a very capable driver. We know that, we’re just not seeing him for whatever reasons him able to deliver that at the moment.”
100% that Lawson will stay –
Horner: “I’m not even going to comment on a change, because that’ll be your first headline. We’re two races into this championship. We have a sample of two – we have quite a bit of information. we’re going to go away and have a good look at it and work with Liam and do the best that we can for him.”
Here’s how F1 Chinese GP panned out
