Red Bull is still uncertain about its driver line-up ahead of the final round of the season at Abu Dhabi after a mixed campaign.
The Austrian team have clinched their fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship with Max Verstappen. The Dutchman brilliantly managed the situation with an inferior car to McLaren over much of the year.
Verstappen performed admirably and took a superb victory last time out at the Qatar Grand Prix, but the rest of the team was much less certain this year. Sergio Perez has been floundering since he took his final podium so far in China.
The Mexican has been a long way behind his teammate and made critical errors in qualifying, which led to him getting knocked out in Q1 despite having a Red Bull capable of winning races.
If Perez were to leave the team ahead of 2025, Red Bull would have two very quick homegrown talents in Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson who could step up.
Karun Chandhok explained that Red Bull should pick Lawson to partner with Verstappen if there is a vacancy despite Tsunoda having significantly more experience.
Red Bull should sign Liam Lawson because his ‘trajectory is going to be higher’
Lawson has been impressive since he replaced Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the United States Grand Prix at RB. The New Zealander scored points at Circuit of the Americas as well as another ninth place finish in Brazil.
Lawson battled Perez in Mexico, which was a tough duel at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez before the pair eventually finished in a lowly 16th and 17th places.
The RB driver has considerably less experience than Tsunoda and is yet to complete a full season in Formula 1, while Tsunoda has been competing at the highest level since 2021.
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Chandhok explained on the Sky Sports F1 podcast that both drivers are very talented, but Lawson has developed quickly in a very short amount of time with no pre-season to learn without the pressure of a race weekend.
He said: “Everyone’s talking about what a great job Yuki’s done this year, and no question about it, he’s made a big step forward. But you’d have to say Liam has pretty much matched him for pace, and he’s been there or there about as an equal for him with significantly less mileage, significantly less experience.
“He’s never had a proper preseason test programme where he’s just had a chance away from the pressure to pound round and round and round, Barcelona or Bahrain, and just be able to hone his skills in a low pressure environment.
“Yuki’s had all of those opportunities. To me, if you look at the growth potential, you have to say Liam’s actually improved and grown more, and that trajectory is going to be higher. But Yuki’s got the experience, perhaps, to deal with going up against Max.”
Either Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda would be under constant pressure alongside Max Verstappen
Verstappen has transformed into a clinical driver that makes very few errors which helped him take four world championships in succession.
He has dominated his teammates at Red Bull in recent years including Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon who quickly returned to the midfield after being dropped by the Austrian team.
The Dutchman has also got the better of Perez since they teamed up in 2021, with Verstappen not being beaten in a race by the 34-year-old this year.
Either Tsunoda or Lawson would need to hit the ground running and keep calm under pressure as the margins are so much finer at the front than in the midfield.
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