Liam Lawson faces a difficult challenge in 2025 when he goes up against Max Verstappen at Red Bull, one of the toughest teammates in Formula 1.
There is some saving grace for Lawson in that Red Bull are not the favourite to win the title for the first time in three years, so he will likely not be expected to win races from Melbourne.
Red Bull has brought him in to replace Sergio Perez, whose performances last year arguably cost them the Constructors Championship.
Lawson makes the step up from Racing Bulls where he impressed Red Bull, particularly during his tricky debut when he substituted Daniel Ricciardo last minute when the Australian fractured his wrist in 2023.
Helmut Marko believes Lawson has the mental capacity to go up against Verstappen, something they felt the experienced Yuki Tsunoda did not have. Former Red Bull driver Christian Klien has urged Christian Horner not to do one thing with Lawson that they have done with previous drivers.
Christian Klien tells Red Bull not to put too much pressure on Liam Lawson
Red Bull is known for being cut throat with drivers, having severed ties with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon in years before Perez, both of whom have found success elsewhere on the grid.
Klien knows what it is like to be in the thick of it at Red Bull, having shared his drive with Tonio Liuzzi for a number of races in 2005. He believes they should not make the same mistakes with Lawson.
“He shouldn’t go into Red Bull Racing and think I can beat Max Verstappen because I don’t think early on in his career that’s possible,” said Klien.
“He has to be a great number two driver. Let’s say now, learn from the best that Max Verstappen is at the moment and his time can come in the future. So again, it’s really exciting to see this year how he will handle the situation, how Red Bull Racing also as a team is helping him in this role next to Max Verstappen.
“I hope they don’t put too much pressure under him. They made the mistake with Albon, etc. I think they learned from it what they need.”
Liam Lawson must get around Max Verstappen problem at Red Bull
Verstappen’s driving style is one of the reasons why his teammates struggle so much against him, with Lawson now being the sixth different pairing with him at Red Bull.
Albon noted how Verstappen likes to have a car that is very sharp at the front end, something that impacted his ability to match the Dutchman’s results while he was at the team.
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Drivers usually chase the same setup as Verstappen, which can either lead to them focusing on too much of a specific area or crashing.
Lawson must find a way to adapt to what Verstappen likes and influence the design direction to his liking, otherwise he could end up going the same way as his predecessors.
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