Liam Lawson had certainly imagined his start as a red bull master driver in Formula 1. During his first appearances in the motorsport king class, the rookie paid a lot of tuition, mostly bumped around at the end of the field. Ex-world champion Jacques Villeneuve makes a tough judgment.
With Liam Lawson, Red Bull relied on a young driver who took over the Cockpit for Formula 1 season 2025 from Sergio Perez. The Mexican fell significantly last year compared to teammate Max Verstappen, was almost permanently in the crossfire of the media and criticism. The racing team therefore decided to separate.
A step that has not yet paid off at all. “At the moment it is worse than with Perez,” says ex-world champion Jacques Villeneuve at “F1TV”. The horror balance of the rookies: 18th place in qualifying in Australia, an accident in the race, the last place in sprint qualifying in China, 14th place in the sprint and 20th place in qualifying for the main race (live on Super sports Sunday at RTL).
Did Red Bull make a mistake and wrongly thrown Sergio Perez out of the team? You could get this impression after the first race of the season and the first sprint of the new Formula 1 season 2025, because his successor Liam Lawson doesn’t necessarily make it better in the car-on the contrary.
Lawson “Maybe not ready for Formula 1”
The New Zealander will already feel the pressure. “Red Bull is not the team to have a bad weekend,” says the Canadian, adding that Helmut Marko “puts his drivers under massive pressure. He expects mental strength, and if you have not grown, he sorts out of you.”
Lawson was in a “hard environment” at Red Bull, says Villeneuve: “Even at Isack Hadjar it was extremely hard last weekend. The boy was dissolved in tears when he crashed, and Helmut reacted very badly. This only generates more pressure”.
The 53 -year -old rumors: “Maybe you are simply not ready for Formula 1. Maybe you are not yet mentally enough. And if Helmut Marko comes into play, there are only two options: either you get strong – or you are out.”