Christian Horner tells Liam Lawson what he must ‘ignore’ at Red Bull to avoid Sergio Perez fate

Red Bull have made the decision to promote Liam Lawson to the main team as he replaces the underperforming Sergio Perez.

The Austrian team had a mixed season, with Max Verstappen winning his fourth title, but Red Bull didn’t retain the Constructors’ Championship.

Lawson put in some very strong performances at RB despite being parachuted in at short notice to replace Daniel Ricciardo at the United States Grand Prix this year.

The Kiwi will have a mountain to climb at Red Bull, as Verstappen has dominated the majority of his teammates at the Austrian outfit.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner feels Lawson will do a good job but explained there is one thing he needs to ignore in 2025.

Liam Lawson has to ‘ignore’ Max Verstappen’s data at Red Bull

Lawson has relatively little experience in Formula 1, having raced in just 11 rounds of the world championship over the past two seasons.

The Kiwi is a risky signing for Red Bull, as his lack of experience may cause issues if things start to go wrong for Lawson.

Choosing Perez’s replacement was tough, but Horner explained Lawson had the right mindset at RB, which is a key reason why he was chosen over Yuki Tsunoda.

READ MORE: Liam Lawson shares the ‘famous’ line Christian Horner said when confirming his Red Bull promotion

Horner feels Lawson needs to ignore Verstappen’s data and focus on his own performance rather than comparing himself to the Dutchman.

He told ESPN: “I think the key thing is not to put too much pressure on him and not to put too much pressure on himself, that he’s going up against the best driver of his generation.

“I think that he just needs to almost ignore the data of what’s going on on car one and just focus with his own engineering team what he’s doing and just do the best job that he can. And he’ll be fine. And hopefully we can support him in that. Hopefully we’ll be able to provide a car that suits him as well as Max next year.”

It can be very easy to get lost in all the data that comes with a Formula 1 car, which can make a driver overthink while chasing marginal gains.

Liam Lawson will be under immediate pressure at Red Bull

Red Bull have set the standard in Formula 1 over the past few seasons despite a slight dip in 2024. They lagged behind McLaren on pure pace for much of the year.

Lawson will need to maintain the Austrian team’s standards throughout the year while keeping the car on the track. Some circuits will be new to the Kiwi, which may make the learning curve steeper on race weekends, such as in Australia and China.

Verstappen has built a reputation for being incredibly hard to beat. He likes a setup with most of the grip on the front axle. This style is hard to manage over a race distance, requiring a deft touch on the steering wheel and pedals.

The car’s setup could cause issues for Lawson if he can’t adapt quickly to the Red Bull and maximise his performance.

Lawson has impressed RB CEO Peter Bayer, but the Red Bull team will be a much more significant challenge with the added media pressure of a front-running team.