Liam Lawson has endured a miserable start to life as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate and the Formula 1 reigning champion has now offered his thoughts on his troubles
Max Verstappen believes a demotion back to Racing Bulls could be a solution to Liam Lawson’s struggles. The New Zealander was named as Sergio Perez’s replacement ahead of the 2025 Formula One season but he has endured an awful start to life with Red Bull.
He has failed to progress from Q1 in each of his three qualifying sessions to date, while Lawson was 20th and dead last in qualifying for both the sprint race and the Chinese Grand Prix. And now teammate Verstappen has offered a brutal solution – a move back to Red Bull’s sister side.
The reigning F1 world champion said: “If you look at the difference between the two drivers at the other teams, they are all closer together. It also shows that our car is extremely difficult.
“I think that when you put Liam in the Racing Bulls car, he will go faster. I really think so. That car is easier to drive than ours. I notice that when I talk to Liam.
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“Last year the difference between him and Yuki Tsunoda was not that big, I thought. Otherwise the team would not make the choice to put him in at Red Bull.”
Lawson has been under the Red Bull umbrella in F1 since 2022 having initially been named as a reserve driver. He then raced for AlphaTauri and then Visa Cash App RB last season ahead of a promotion to Red Bull.
Lawson has been honest about his troubles this season and admitted that he may be running out of time to turn the tide. Speaking to Sky Sports, the 23-year-old said: “It’s just really tough. The window is really small. That’s known but it’s not an excuse. I’ve got to get a handle on it. It was a messy session and had we not dealt with traffic, it might have been OK but it’s still not good enough. To be having those issues and that’s the reason we get knocked out, we should be fast enough on our first lap and it shouldn’t be an issue. I just need to get on top of it.”
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He added: “I think it’s just time. Unfortunately, I don’t really have time. To drive an F1 car takes 100 per cent confidence in what you’re doing. It’s not that I don’t feel confident but the window is so small that I just seem to miss it and it’s that I need to get a handle of. I don’t know how else to put it. It’s just not good enough.”
Elsewhere, Red Bull chief Christian Horner also gave his view on a potential replacement for Lawson. But as it stands, a change in driver does not appear to be on his mind. Speaking in China, he said: “It’s been a tough day in the office for him today so we’ll have a good look at it and go through it and obviously try and give him the best car for tomorrow.”
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