Liam Lawson: Can new Red Bull driver succeed in 'toughest seat in F1' after Sergio Perez struggles? | F1 news

After being put into what many consider to be “the toughest seat in Formula 1”, Liam Lawson has his final challenge to go up against Max Verstappen until the to secure his future in the sport.

Red Bull announced on Thursday that 22-year-old New Zealander Lawson will be a four-time teammate to the world champion in 2025.

Sergio Perez, Verstappen's longest-serving team-mate, was let go after four seasons with Red Bull having struggled badly over much of his last 18 months with the Milton Keynes outfit.

Before Perez, Pierre Gasly only lasted 12 races, before Alex Albon was dropped after just over a season driving with Verstappen.

Before that, Daniel Ricciardo, who at the time was considered among the elite drivers on the grid, chose to move on to Renault after becoming frustrated that Red Bull was shaping his future around on Verstappen.

Talking to Sky Sports News this month, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “Driving with Max is the hardest seat in Formula 1, because he is the best driver on the grid.”

“He's a four-time world champion, he's a generational talent. You almost have to ignore what's going on in his car so you don't put too much pressure on yourself.”

It seems a tall order, or perhaps an impossible one, for a driver who has competed in just 11 grands prix, during which time he has failed to stand out among a new generation interesting the sport of young talent.

So, in his own words from an exclusive interview with Sky Sports NewsWhy might Lawson be able to succeed where others have failed?

Full pre-season and fast car

Although Lawson's lack of experience raises doubts about how he is ready for this time, that is partly why the opportunity has come his way.

His main rival for the seat – and team-mate for all F1 appearances to date – Yuki Tsunoda, has just completed his fourth full season in the sport, and has outperformed Lawson, along with former RB drivers Ricciardo and Nyck de Vries.

Based on results alone, Tsunoda should have the seat. But Red Bull seems to be banking on the theory that by the time Lawson has had as many races at the wheel of F1 as the current Japanese driver, he will have reached a higher level.

The first advantage he gets is the opportunity to properly prepare for a full campaign.

“That's something I've never been and it's exciting,” Lawson said. “I don't know what I'm going to do with myself, to be honest, because I have so much time to think about it now. I almost just want to get into it.

“It's going to be important. That's how you use that time too. We'll start early, I'm sure in January we'll be doing a lot of preparation already. It's just about the best make it going into the Bahrain test.”

The other key factor that could allow Lawson to win is that he is jumping into a car that has won nine races in 2024.

It's rare for a rookie to get a chance in a front car, but in 2025 there will be two, with Italian teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes following the Brit's decision to join Ferrari.

He said: “There are definitely pros and cons. I think, where my head is, obviously I'm just looking at the benefits and for me it's very exciting, and I know it's going to be very difficult.

“Lots of trails I've never been on. But to be in a car that has just won the world championship, as a driver, that's very exciting to know that you're going into a competitive situation, but I'm fully aware of it. how hard it will be.”

Learning from Verstappen… without realizing it

Although Lawson has no grand prix experience, he has spent no shortage of time in and around the Red Bull team.

Unlike some of his predecessors, Lawson has been able to keep a close eye on Verstappen as the Dutchman ascended to greatness.

Asked if being around Verstappen had been helpful, Lawson said: “Definitely, I think even maybe without him he understood it.

“Being a reserve for several years, I started spending a lot more time with Red Bull than RB.

“As a reserve I was watching all the sessions, listening to his statements, listening to his communication during the sessions and just watching from the back. So I spent a lot of time watching how he does it, how he communicated with the team, his feedback.”

While limited on the grid, Lawson has replicated Verstappen's erratic nature amid on-and-off-track disputes with experienced rivals such as Perez and Fernando Alonso.

However, it is other elements of Verstappen's highly successful approach that Lawson says he wants to follow.

“Stepping in as a reserve last year in Zandvoort, he gave me some advice, mostly about how to go about it,” Lawson said.

“He's obviously a very calm person outside the car and he's getting a lot of pressure out I think, so for me it was that's something to watch and learn from.”

Council from Albon

An area where Verstappen's former Red Bull teammates have struggled badly has been dealing with the design of the team's cars, which some have said was aimed at his favourites.

While others may be unprepared for this, the vast amount of testing Lawson has been able to do during his time as the team's reserve driver could have fared better than his predecessors. .

“I have driven the car over the last two years and done tests, and I can say that the car is very aggressive, and it gives a lot of confidence to drive, honestly,” Lawson said.

“And I think that's where Max is obviously very confident as a driver. But the main thing is that he is the best in the world right now.

“It's always going to be very difficult to go against the best guy, and in the end that's probably the main reason why anyone has struggled so far to go up against him.

On his way to F1, Lawson competed in the German DTM sports car racing series in 2021, where he happened to be partnered with Albon, who had just been dropped by Red Bull.

Already clear on where he wanted to end up, Lawson grilled Albon for information he hoped would help him in the future.

“When we were in DTM, he probably got sick of me asking all the questions. But I did, I asked Red Bull a lot of questions and what he was like in the team and so was the car,” Lawson recalled.

“I know the car was different at the time but honestly, the features seem very similar.

“He told me it was confidence. And going up against Max, obviously that's what's needed.”

Beating the odds

While one could argue that Lawson's unorthodox path to the Red Bull seat may have been the best preparation he could have, most observers would see success to him as a greater surprise than a failure.

The good news for Lawson is that playing the role of the underdog isn't new to him.

Firstly, he comes from a country that has produced just one other F1 driver (who only lasted two seasons) in the last 40 years.

“I think to achieve a high level in any sport or any business you choose, being from New Zealand, I feel it's always harder from a small country,” Lawson said. .

“I didn't know personally how unattainable F1 was, I was always lucky that I just believed I could do it and I was lucky that my family around me gave me that support for me. But looking back, it's a little harder.”

But even within New Zealand, Lawson's parents' lack of financial means meant that the transition from domestic to international competition was a challenge.

“My first 12 months of go-karting, I finished solidly last every time. I was just driving by myself at the back of the field,” Lawson recalled.

“I was trying to convince my dad to get a better engine because I was sure it was bad, and finally he did. That was when karting got really good bad

“To my parents, they sacrificed everything for me as a child. Even just for go-kart racing, to compete at the front in New Zealand is still very expensive.

“My parents don't have a house right now because I'm growing up carting and leaving home. My siblings, my whole family have given up a lot for me to do this. “

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