Beating Yuk Tsunoda in the competition for an F1 seat
The six Grands Prix at his disposal at the end of 2024 were enough for Liam Lawson to outperform Yuki Tsunoda in the race for the Red Bull seat, which was forcibly vacated by Sergio Perez due to his performance falling below even the minimum acceptable standards. Red Bull had to pay the Mexican a hefty severance package to step aside, as he had already secured a contract extension for 2025 after a strong start to the season.
The New Zealander made his F1 debut in 2023 at the Dutch Grand Prix, stepping in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, and scored his first career points in Singapore. In 2024, he finished in the top 10 twice, including an impressive season debut in Austin. With just 11 races of experience, Liam Lawson now faces the honor and challenge of being Max Verstappen’s new teammate. This prospect excites him—”Max is the best, and I will have access to his telemetry in every session. Obviously, replicating what he does will be difficult, but there’s no better opportunity for my growth,” Lawson told Auto Motor und Sport. According to Marko, the 2002-born driver has the right qualities to handle this challenge.
“Liam Lawson is very young, has excellent mental consistency, and equally impressive speed,” Marko said in an interview with Autosprint. “I think he can do well at Red Bull. The team has an undisputed number one in Max Verstappen, so Lawson just needs to focus on doing his best without worrying about how the team leader is performing and making his own valuable contribution.”
Marko is also optimistic about Isack Hadjar’s F1 debut alongside Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls: “Yuki is fast but not consistent. This year, he will have a great opportunity as the team’s number one driver. Hadjar is also a great talent and has already shown promising traits in F2.”
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