Red Bull Racing faced a difficult decision at the end of the 2024 season after a frustrating campaign.
While Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship, they missed out on retaining the Constructors’ title after Sergio Perez failed to live up to expectations.
The 34-year-old finished 285 points behind his teammate, meaning Red Bull confirmed Perez’s exit weeks after the 2024 campaign finished.
There was a lot of discussion about who would replace Perez, but in the end, team principal Christian Horner and chief advisor Helmut Marko chose Liam Lawson.
Lawson was selected ahead of his more experienced Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda despite taking part in just 11 Grand Prix during his career.
The pressure was on Lawson as soon as he replaced Daniel Ricciardo for the final six races of the season in 2024.
The Kiwi didn’t have a contract for this year at either Red Bull-backed team and several more established stars – such as Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen – were available as free agents to Red Bull if Lawson didn’t live up to expectations.
In the end, Lawson matched Tsunoda’s race pace and that was enough to convince Red Bull to take a gamble on the 22-year-old.
Marko admitted Tsunoda lacked one thing that ultimately tipped the scales in Lawson’s direction.
Liam Lawson moans about commercial obligations ahead of Red Bull promotion
During his time with Racing Bulls, Lawson was immediately put to work to promote the team and their various sponsors.
It’s an important aspect of being an F1 driver with the cost cap impacting how teams develop their cars and every penny made through marketing deals helping support their progress.
Red Bull have some incredibly lucrative sponsors and Verstappen and Lawson will be obliged to work alongside them as part of their deals.
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Lawson was doing some commercial activities on the Visa Cash App RB YouTube channel and was seen standing in a studio getting ready to deliver a message.
He stepped in front of a camera and then exclaimed: “Ah f—, here we go with this teleprompter s—. I hate this.”
Lawson is then doing a photoshoot and asked to be ‘a bit more normal’ to which he jokingly replies: “You’re an idiot! Be a bit more normal, are you serious!”
Liam Lawson unlikely to surpass Sergio Perez in helping Red Bull generate sponsorship
The most important aspect of Lawson’s promotion is getting closer to Verstappen on track.
Red Bull can’t afford another season where the Dutchman’s teammate is so far off the pace, albeit Perez’s underperformance has earned the team more wind tunnel time that can be used to help develop their 2026 car.
However, where Perez excelled was generating cash for Red Bull through his sponsors.
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Perez’s sponsors generated huge amounts of cash for Red Bull and already the team are working on replacing that windfall.
Working with Verstappen will be an easy selling point for the team given he’s a four-time world champion.
Lawson’s popularity in New Zealand is no match for the backing Perez received from Mexico and most of South America, but that’ll quickly be forgotten if he produces stronger performances than his predecessor.
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