Red Bull is weighing up its options over what to do with its second cockpit after another difficult outing for Liam Lawson in China.

Speculation is mounting that Liam Lawson could be cycled out of his seat with Red Bull Racing after just two race weekends, following another difficult event in which he scored no points.

Liam Lawson: It’s safe to say we’re not happy

On a weekend where Red Bull had a more subdued performance than the team have usually produced in recent years, Max Verstappen piloted his car to fourth place in the Grand Prix after claiming the same spot in qualifying, while he took third place in the Sprint race after claiming a front-row start.

While not the fastest car on the grid at this point, the RB21 is still clearly a competitive car, but Lawson has failed to exploit its potential during his first two race weekends with the team.

Knocked out in Q1 in both Australia and China, as well as in SQ1 for the Sprint event, Red Bull opted to make big setup changes to his car for the Grand Prix and took another pitlane start for Lawson’s car.

While the Kiwi reached the chequered flag without incident, he didn’t make a lot of forward momentum – although he wasn’t helped by using a two-stop strategy that was the less optimal choice as he started on the hards, switched to mediums, and then back to the hards.

Circumstances have counted somewhat against Lawson, in that he hasn’t raced at either venue before in his career, while he also had compromised practice through a power unit issue in FP3 in Australia, and the Sprint event meaning just one hour of practice in China.

Suzuka, as the next race, represents Lawson’s best chance to far to impress as it’s a circuit he knows well from racing in Super Formula, while the weekend uses the traditional weekend format.

However, the question mark is whether or not Lawson will still be in his Red Bull seat by the Japanese Grand Prix, with Red Bull understood to be evaluating all their options over what to do with their second car.

The obvious candidate would be a promotion for Yuki Tsunoda from Racing Bulls, with the Japanese driver welcoming the idea of stepping up to Red Bull when he spoke to media on Saturday, while Isack Hadjar has also impressed during his first two race weekends despite crashing out before the Australian Grand Prix even began.

Speaking after the race, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko opted against getting involved in the rumours by saying,  “The focus at the moment is on improving the car. And then we’ll discuss the rest.”

Addressing Lawson’s race to 15th place, with a best lap time half a second off Verstappen’s, Marko said, “He didn’t make much progress, but his lap times were closer to Max. So at least that’s a step forward.’

‘We chose a different set-up for the car, which makes it easier to drive. And with this set-up, he has shown the best performance so far.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner was asked whether the team will give Lawson the benefit of time to keep plugging away to unlock more performance.

“Formula 1 is a pressure business, isn’t it? There’s always time pressure. And he knows that,” he told Sky F1.

“Hopefully, he’ll respond accordingly, and we’ll see where we go.

“Liam is a great little racer. I mean, he gets his elbows out. He races hard. He’s just struggling at the moment finding the limit with this car, getting the most out of the car, and, as a team, we’re looking to support him in the best way that we can. So he’ll be in the debrief, giving all that information to the engineers very shortly.”

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As for whether Red Bull would be willing to make changes to the RB21’s peak performance in order to allow Lawson a wider window of operating than he’s experiencing, Horner said, “You’re always going for ultimate performance and fast cars are never easy cars to drive, but we know there’s performance that we need to find and we need both drivers up there if there’s to be any chance of fighting for a Constructors’ Championship.

“With the Drivers’ Championship as well, you need to have a second car in play. You can’t just do it one-legged. So we want as a team, collectively, to make sure that we’re getting the best out of both drivers and getting both cars as far up the grid as we can.”

Lawson made comments on Saturday about how he “doesn’t have time” to take too long to adjust to driving the RB21, a statement he elaborated on when talking to media following the chequered flag.

“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, at each race, we’re losing points,” he said.

“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. So, for me, I’m just focused on on getting used to the car as quickly as I can.”

Asked whether there are concerns within the Red Bull team about his performance levels, Lawson said, “It’s safe to say that we’re not happy. None of us are happy. I don’t know what more you want me to say to that, really.”

The differences in pace between himself and Verstappen come down to “just a couple of places”, the 23-year-old explained.

“Like, in quali, it is actually very similar. It’s just a couple of places, normally. But, overall, it’s just how the car is to drive. It’s a very small window,” he said.

“I think Max is able to get in and have the car on the limit, knows where the limit is everywhere, and be comfortable with it, and it’s just something I’m figuring out.

“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.”

Put to him that Tsunoda is welcoming the idea of taking his seat, Lawson said, “He can say whatever he wants. 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.”

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