Liam Lawson needs to be given time to find his feet with Red Bull, as the Kiwi is going through a tough start to life at Milton Keynes, believes Giedo van der Garde.

Lawson was knocked out in last place in Sprint Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, days after he crashed out of the Australian GP having toiled around towards the back of the pack.

Liam Lawson ‘has the capacity’ to do well at Red Bull

With Red Bull opting for change by parting ways with Sergio Perez after the F1 2024 season, the Milton Keynes-based squad plumped for Liam Lawson as the young Kiwi driver impressed by showing potential alongside the vastly more experienced Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls last season.

Lawson has filled in for two short stints with Racing Bulls over the last two seasons, first as a replacement for the injured Daniel Ricciardo for a handful of races in 2023, before taking the Australian’s seat for the final quarter of last season.

Between the potential he showed and his mental strength, Red Bull opted for Lawson in the belief that he would be a more suitable teammate to support Max Verstappen without crumbling alongside the Dutchman, who has a reputation for being a teammate crusher.

But Lawson’s stint at Red Bull hasn’t kicked off well, having shown little pace compared to Verstappen challenging for victory in Australia and then being knocked out at the first hurdle in Sprint Qualifying in China.

But there’s no reason for panic just yet, believes former F1 Grand Prix driver turned broadcaster Giedo van der Garde, who has come to Lawson’s defence in these early days driving for a top team as a full-time driver for the first time.

“No, no,” he exclusively told PlanetF1.com when asked if the pressure of arriving at Red Bull is getting to Lawson.

“I think it’s more circumstances because we know also that he had the pressure last year – he had to jump in and show himself straight away, and he did it.

“I think he has a capacity to do well, and I don’t see any issue.

“I think it was due to circumstances that are not going his way. He’s still a rookie, and I’m sure that he will be there.

“Does he need to have momentum? Correct, he needs to have the car that is performing. He needs to do himself the right way and I’m sure he will be, every race, closer and closer to Max.”

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Given Lawson’s pedigree of adjusting to racing near the front in Formula 2, Formula 3, Super Formula, and DTM amongst a host of lower category championship wins, Van Der Garde believes Lawson should be afforded patience and time to find his feet.

“Don’t forget that they only got one-half day of testing and, if you saw his test days, some of them didn’t go well because he had some issues with the car,” he said.

“So his preparation was not the best, as you’d hope for. Then, in Melbourne, he had issues again. It’s not ideal but let’s stay calm.”

Lawson’s SQ1 elimination was down to him being unable to get his tyre temperatures to decrease during a cooldown lap, meaning he started his final flying lap with excess temperature – resulting in a wayward moment at Turn 9.

Speaking to race engineer Richard Wood after being knocked out, Lawson said, “Mate, I’m really sorry but I just… I honestly could not get the tyres down.”

Speaking to the media afterwards, Lawson explained his version of events.

“So, it’s obviously a shame. I think, from a starting point, it wasn’t too bad, the first lap was alright, and then we were just looking to build on there, but we stayed out to try and cool the tyres on track.

“To be honest, I really struggled to get the temps down starting the second lap, so basically, we started too hot and then through the lap, I just struggled. It’s frustrating.

“It’s really a shame, because honestly I think we started okay in quali, and the first lap wasn’t amazing but it was relatively okay, so it’s just a shame to be out for something so frustrating.

“Our pace should be a lot further up than where we are, so obviously we have tomorrow’s sprint race to try and learn some stuff, and then tomorrow’s quali as well – we want to do a better job than this.”

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