Formula 1 is an incredibly high-pressure environment and whether a driver has never part in a Grand Prix or has hundreds under their belt, it doesn’t take long for questions to be asked about someone’s future.
Last season, two drivers lost their race seats midway through the campaign – Logan Sargeant at Williams and Daniel Ricciardo at RB – while Red Bull decided to part ways with Sergio Perez during the winter break.
Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen also won’t be returning to the grid in 2025, but the difference in their Grand Prix starts – ranging from 36 for Sargeant to 281 for Perez – highlights that there’s no room for error no matter how long you’ve been on the grid.
Franco Colapinto also lost his seat, although he knew before replacing Sargeant that Carlos Sainz had already been signed by Williams as the American’s replacement for 2025.
All of this change means that plenty of seats have opened up for rookies to enter the sport.
Some will be starting near the back of the grid, with F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto having his work cut out at Sauber, while Jack Doohan, Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman will be battling in the midfield.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Liam Lawson, on the other hand, may have the opportunity to challenge for race wins immediately at Mercedes and Red Bull respectively.
Anthony Davidson was speaking to Sky Sports F1 and admitted that he thinks the pressure is on Lawson immediately given the expectations at Red Bull this year.
Anthony Davidson thinks Liam Lawson will be under ‘immense’ pressure at Red Bull
Previewing the 23-year-old’s first full Formula 1 season, Davidson said: “With only 11 Grands Prix under his belt, Liam Lawson steps into the hot seat alongside one of the best F1 drivers the world has ever seen, Max Verstappen, without question making it a career-defining moment.
“His brief is simple: bring home championship points on a regular basis in order to help Red Bull fight for the Constructors’ Championship.
READ MORE: Who is Red Bull Racing F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know
“There’ll be no hiding, and the pressure will be immense for him, but so far he’s clearly impressed the right people, whose opinions matter.
“It will be one of the highlights for me, seeing how he gets on this year at the sharp end of the grid.”
Liam Lawson’s race seat at Red Bull has already been questioned
Lawson hasn’t had the easiest start to life in F1, being called up as an injury substitute for Ricciardo in 2023 at late notice at Zandvoort.
The £800,000-a-year driver performed admirably both on his debut and across his five Grand Prix starts that year, including outqualifying Verstappen in Singapore.
Helmut Marko was desperate to get Lawson back in the car, but Ricciardo was given the majority of the 2024 season to try and prove he should be the man to replace Perez if he continued to underperform.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links
That didn’t happen and while Lawson was eventually given the nod, that hasn’t stopped others from questioning the decision.
Gerhard Berger thinks Red Bull should have signed Carlos Sainz instead of Lawson, but the Spaniard will instead be fighting further down the grid with Williams.
The nature of the Red Bull teams means that if Lawson doesn’t perform as expected, he could easily be swapped out for Yuki Tsunoda or even Hadjar.
He needs to have a strong start to the season to prevent that line of discussion from even starting.
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