New Delhi: Last December Red Bull had announced that Liam Lawson will replace Sergio Perez, after the former made 11 grand prix starts. For both Red Bull and Lawson, it was a risk. The team has always had a tricky situation with the second seat to Max Verstappen, with both Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon coming to the team in the early years of their career.
Christian Horner back then had said that there was a risk of Lawson following that same path as the likes of Gasly and Albon though he was hopeful that Lawson would prove different given his “personality”. However, two races into the season, the story remains far from different. Lawson’s miserable start at Red Bull has made the side consider yet another change.
Christian Horner knows exactly what Liam Lawson is capable of 👀#F1 pic.twitter.com/pvfKkyhtPh
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 19, 2024
How does Liam Lawson stand besides Max Verstappen?
From the very start Lawson wasn’t expected to be a match to reigning champion Verstappen but currently he is on average 0.880 seconds behind over a single lap in the two qualifying session and one sprint qualifying, which does causes worry. In both the sprint and the race at the Chinese GP, Lawson qualified last.
In sprint he muscled back to 14th while in the race he was 12th, promoted only after three disqualifications, failing to score either of the times. Both these performances, is no where close to what is expected at a front-running team. Horner himself said that it was tough couple of races and felt it was pertinent that Red Bull supported him at this point, though he was bashful about the New Zealander’s participation in next race in Japan.
Horner mainatained that erverything for now was “speculative” and needed the entire race’s information to figure out the way forward.
It isn’t just the pressure that Lawson faces but the difficulty of driving the RB21 car which had previously given troubles to Gasly, Albon and ultimately to Perez as well. Verstappen is no doubt one of the rare talents the grid has seen and hence he can manage and excel with the car. In fact he favours thew point front end and can catch the rear of the car through the corner.
Albon had said that the it is so sharp that it puts drivers on their edge. Lawson has a very short span to maximize the performance of the car as Lawson adjusts to the new surroundings. Even he is aware of the crisis, stating that if he cannot perform soon enough, he swon’t get to stick around. Horner knowing his potential felt that pressure does grow in F1 if someone continues to not perform.
Will it be Yuki Tsunoda who takes Red Bull’s second seat?
There is a chance that Red Bull could could cutn him a slack and send him to Racing Bulls two help him regain his confidence while Yuki Tsunoda who is looking at his home race in Japan comes to replace him. Tsunoda was previously overlooked though he possess more experience than Lawson but Horner felt the 23-year-old ghad more potential.
Tsunoda of course would be very pleased if he is called to the team, having dsescribed the car being much faster, though he has said he is unsure about the struggled Lawson might be facing with the car. Tusonda is more confident having made 92 grand prix appearances and having improved himself in each season. Horner has always maintained that just having experience doesn’t qualify anyone of being the ideal candidate.
Horner though on Sunday didn’t comment on this feeling it would bring unnecessary media attention. However, there is attention over Red Bull’s second especially with Red Bulls failing to defend their title and this season too looking below the quality of bringing home their seventh title. It started with Daniel Riccardo leaving Red Bull in 2018 after he felt the team wasn’t combining well with him. It is McLaren who are currently dominating the Constructor’s championship.
What Red Bull now faces is the tough call to choose between, either supporting Lawson or experimenting with Tsunoda, which they have two weeks to take a call for.
With Liam Lawson’s gap in performance with Max Verstappen nowhere close to matching, Red Bull could be thinking of replacing him with Racing Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda. Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
