Home F1 Lawson speaks on Red Bull move; Horner adds on Perez, Tsunoda

Christian Horner, Liam Lawson, Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda — MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - OCTOBER 24: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing, Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Visa Cash App RB and Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Visa Cash App RB pose for a photo with Day of the Dead performers in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 24, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202410240525 // Usage for editorial use only //

Lawson speaks on Red Bull move; Horner adds on Perez, Tsunoda

19/12/2024

Liam Lawson opens up on securing F1 seat at Red Bull for 2025 season, as Christian Horner expands on Sergio Perez’s exit and selection of the Kiwi.

After months of speculation, Perez finally announced his departure from Red Bull this week. It was decided during the post Abu Dhabi GP meet, with the Mexican ending his contract early. A day after his departure, the team announced Lawson to take his place to partner Max Verstappen.

They took him over Yuki Tsunoda after just the 11 races in the Visa Cash App RB car in two seasons. Lawson had his first media day as a Red Bull driver on Thursday where he spoke at length on the Talking Bull podcast about how it came about and his plans in the off-season before the big drive.

Lawson elaborated on how he was told about the drive and driving alongside Verstappen. At the same time, Horner spoke to media about the decision to drop Perez, while also explained why the Kiwi was chosen over Tsunoda, where his characteristics and temperament played a key role.

“There’s a process, we all have shareholders, you make a recommendation and the shareholders have always been tremendously supportive,” Horner said on talkSPORT. “Liam’s a product of our junior team and he’s a young talent that we took on six years ago and nurtured him through the lower Formula, as we did with Sebastian Vettel and as we’ve done with Max.

“I think we’re seeing in him a character and a robustness to deal with the pressure of being Max’s teammate. He’s only done 11 Prix but he impressed us and the engineering staff and, of course, the scrutiny he will be under as Max’s teammate. If you liken it to football you can’t have two centre-forwards, you’ve got to have strength and depth in your team, and Liam with the experience he has coming into the team is there to provide that strength and depth in what we need from an engineering and tactical perspective because it’s going to be tight next year.

“Ferrari have got Hamilton and Leclerc, two very strong drivers, McLaren have Norris and Piastri. I spoke to him [Tsunoda] a short while ago and he’s more motivated than ever. He wants to prove us wrong, obviously. And as I said to him, this sport moves so quickly. This industry moves so quickly that he just needs to keep doing a great job in the Racing Bulls team.

“I think that he’s got a lot of talent. He drove our car at a test just a week or so ago as we wanted to really evaluate him and he impressed the engineering staff. It’s just we felt that Liam’s trajectory that he’s on in the short space of time that he’s had, together with his mental strength and resilience, were the right assets to partner Max next year. Arguably that seat is the toughest in Formula One, going up against Max Verstappen who is at the peak of his career.”

Liam Lawson –