Ted Kravitz can’t understand why Red Bull signed Liam Lawson over two-podium F1 driver

Liam Lawson will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull, the team have finally announced. Sergio Perez’s exit had become an increasingly inevitability in the closing stages of the season.

Lawson will become one of Red Bull’s youngest drivers when he makes his debut at next year’s Australian GP. He won’t turn 23 until February, the same month that pre-season testing begins.

More significant is his lack of experience in F1. The race in Melbourne will be his 12th overall – equivalent to just half a season by current standards.

Red Bull have clearly seen enough in two short stints so far to suggest he’s ready for the top team. Lawson deputised for an injured Daniel Ricciardo in 2023 and then replaced the Australian outright for the final quarter of 2024.

Christian Horner’s team have won as many world championships as Lawson has F1 points (six). But the New Zealander has encouragingly stacked up well against the far more experienced Yuki Tsunoda.

After Red Bull’s interest in Franco Colapinto cooled, it became a shoot-out between the two in-house options. Tsunoda’s long-term future with the squad is now in serious doubt after he was snubbed.

Ted Kravitz says Red Bull should have re-signed Alex Albon over Liam Lawson

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast before the news was announced, Ted Kravitz argued that Red Bull had made the ‘wrong decision’. Many have argued that Horner should have re-signed Carlos Sainz, who was available following Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move.

Sainz says Red Bull did him a ‘favour’ by overlooking him. But Kravitz believes another former driver was the answer – Alex Albon.

Albon only lasted 18 months after his mid-season promotion in 2019, which came at the expense of Pierre Gasly. But he was only a rookie at that point, and has grown in stature since.

While not in a position to add to the two podiums he scored with the Milton Keynes outfit, he’s taken on a team leader role since Williams welcomed him back to F1 in 2022. He remains with the Grove outfit for a fourth straight year, incidentally alongside Sainz.

“For me, it’s the wrong decision,” Kravitz said. “I think Alex Albon, actually, strange as this might sound [was the right choice]. I don’t think it would have taken much of a lever to get Alex Albon out of Williams.

“Williams could have run Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz – perfect. Alex Albon would at least have been a known measure against Max Verstappen. Albon’s so much older and wiser and knows how to handle Max and the whole situation. I don’t know why they haven’t done that.”

How Alex Albon failed the 2024 test set by David Coulthard

Albon finished 16th in the 2024 standings with 12 points to his name. Williams’ difficult campaign has hurt his stock, fairly or otherwise.

He clearly feels he deserves to be racing at a higher level. Albon tried to escape Williams, but his buyout clause was too high to seriously interest suitors.

The 28-year-old chose to sign an extension to secure his future in a volatile driver market. But he looks much less likely to jump up the grid than he did a year ago.

Albon failed the test set by David Coulthard, who wanted him to show he was the ‘real deal’ this year. A series of accidents, not all of them his fault, mean most observers wouldn’t include him in their top 10 F1 drivers of 2024.