Liam Lawson should be a “consistent points scorer” for Red Bull and “help” team-mate Max Verstappen when necessary during the F1 2025 season. 

That is the briefing set by Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko ahead of the New Zealand star’s first full Formula 1 campaign.

Will Liam Lawson prove a good signing for Red Bull?

Lawson was promoted to Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s new team-mate at the end of last year after Sergio Perez vacated his seat at the close of the F1 2024 campaign.

Perez stepped away from his seat after a bruising season, which saw him fail to score a podium finish after the fifth race of the season in China.

The Mexican’s failure to contribute consistent points saw reigning champions Red Bull slip to a disappointing third in the Constructors’ standings, behind winners McLaren and second-placed Ferrari.

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Lawson’s rise to one of the most coveted seats on the grid comes after just 11 appearances for Red Bull junior team VCARB (formerly AlphaTauri) across 2023/24.

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, shortly before his promotion to Red Bull was announced, Lawson stressed the need to remain realistic as he steps up to partner Verstappen, the reigning four-time World Champion.

“I believe, for anybody to go up against Max, you have to be realistic and know that he’s the fastest guy on the grid right now and that you’re not going to be outqualifying the guy by half a second,” Lawson said.

“It’s not going to be something that’s really going to be happening.

“For me, it’s more the opportunity that’s there to learn from the best.”

Speaking to Austrian publication OE24, long-serving Red Bull adviser Marko has confirmed that Lawson’s job is to bank regular points for the team and assist Verstappen whenever possible.

Marko said: “He should become a consistent points scorer and help Max when he needs to, not try to.”

Marko’s comments come after Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, revealed that Lawson will play a “tactical” role to support Verstappen what is expected to be a closely fought F1 2025 title battle.

Asked if Lawson has been signed to “complement” Verstappen, Horner told talkSPORT: “Absolutely.

“If you liken it to football, you can’t have two [elite] centre forwards – you’ve got to have strength and depth in your team.

“I think that Liam, with the experience that he has coming into the team, is there to provide that strength in depth in what we need from an engineering perspective, from a tactical perspective, because it’s going to be tight [in 2025].

“You’ve got Ferrari that have [Lewis] Hamilton and [Charles] Leclerc two very strong drivers; you’ve got [Lando] Norris and Oscar Piastri at McLaren.

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“There’s contradicting aspects [within F1] because, on the one hand, you’ve got the team and the drivers are contractors to the team.

“On the other side, you’ve got the Drivers’ Championship where the interest and the individual interest is. It’s about communication and being up front with the drivers.

“We’re perhaps slightly different to other teams where we go: ‘Do you know what? Max Verstappen is the most valuable asset in Formula 1. He’s our lead driver. If you can get close to him, fantastic. But the reality is the expectation is for Max to win.’

“A team like Ferrari, for example, are going to have two drivers that are going to be taking points off each other – and which horse do you back?

“You have to back both of them, but that sometimes becomes divisive within a team.

“Different teams have different approaches.”

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