As Red Bull consider demoting Liam Lawson after just two races, both at tracks he did not know, Christijan Albers has urged Helmut Marko to give him one more race, Japan.

But whatever decision Red Bull make in the coming days, the former F1 driver has chastised Marko for not supporting his driver in these early days.

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Stepping into the Red Bull to replace the ousted Sergio Perez for the F1 2025 championship, Marko said Lawson’s job was to “help” Max Verstappen win the championship titles.

Furthermore, “he should be within three-tenths of Max in both qualifying and in the race. That should be enough to get points for the Constructors’ Championship. He should also steadily increase his performance — if possible.”

Lawson did not achieve that objective in his first two Grand Prix weekends.

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A second down on Verstappen in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, Lawson was eliminated in Q1 before crashing in a wet race. Red Bull though, shrugged that off.

But seven days later, and with another two Q1 exits down in P20 and still no points on the board, Red Bull are considering replacing the New Zealander – just two races into the season.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko did little to silence the speculation in China.

Speaking after qualifying at the Shanghai circuit, he told Sky Germany: “This is not what we expected. We will discuss it calmly. We still have a few drivers among them [Red Bull’s junior academy] who can recommend themselves. Thank God we are in a good position.”

He doubled down on that, agreeing with Lawson that time wasn’t on his side as he said: “He’s right. It was disappointing, and we have to go through and analyse everything, and then we see.”

But even in the brutal world of Formula 1, a world in which Red Bull have a reputation for playing harder than most, Marko’s comments didn’t sit well with Formula 1 driver Albers.

“You would think that Marko has learned from it in recent years,” the Viaplay analyst said. “That interview… I think he will be shocked when he looks back at what kind of answer he gives.

“He should have just been fully behind his drivers. It doesn’t matter what happens.

“Let him drive Japan first [a track Lawson knows], then you can really measure him. You can always decide if he is broken, or if he is doing reasonably well there and then gains self-confidence.”

However, it doesn’t look as if Red Bull will give Lawson a third race as PlanetF1.com understands from sources close to the situation that speculation that he will make way for Yuki Tsunoda in Japan is likely accurate. The negotiations, however, are ongoing and a formal decision is expected later this week.

Albers put it down to panic from Red Bull, not helped by the media’s focus.

“It is usually a panic factor that plays a role,” said the former Spyker driver. “The media are of course, increasing the pressure.”

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