Red Bull boss Christian Horner says he feels ‘sorry’ for ‘struggling’ Liam Lawson after nightmare Chinese GP
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has said he feels sorry for Liam Lawson following the Chinese GP. The driver had a challenging weekend in Shanghai, failing to secure points in the sprint and the main race.
Lawson's teammate Max Verstappen scored 18 points, eliciting comparisons between the two and criticism of the Kiwi's lack of pace in the RB21.
Horner said in a press briefing post-race:
"I think Liam still has got potential, we're just not realising that at the moment. I think the problem for him is, he's had a couple of really tough weekends, he's got all the media on his back. The pressure just naturally grows in this business, and I feel very sorry for him. You can see it's very tough on him at the moment."
In the Sprint race, Liam Lawson qualified last on the grid at 20th, while his teammate secured a front-row start at second. Verstappen went on to finish third, as Lawson climbed through the field to finish just above the backmarkers at 14th.
Lawson showed similar signs of struggle qualifying for the main race, coming in last. Red Bull's decision to make setup changes and start in the pitlane didn't help, as he struggled to make headway and finished outside the points at 12th, following three driver disqualifications.
Liam Lawson gives his take on lack of testing with Red Bull
Prior to his debut with Red Bull, Liam Lawson gained experience as an F1 driver with 11 races during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, piloting the second seat in Red Bull's sister team Racing Bulls (previously Alpha Tauri).
Although these starts gave him a chance to score his first points, Lawson lacks any testing experience with a Red Bull car. In contrast, Mercedes' rookie prodigy Kimi Antonelli received 10,000 KMs of testing with a two-year-old car. Talking to the media after the Chinese GP, Lawson said:
"It's something that you'd love to have, sixty test days like that and I know a lot of guys tested a lot out of season. Unfortunately, it's not something we did but it's not something we can do in this car anyways, so it's just one of those things. It's not an excuse, it's just something that I've got to get on top of."
Following a tough weekend in China, reports have emerged on a possible swap for Lawson with his former Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda, as early as the Japanese GP.
Tsunoda secured a fifth-place qualification in the season-opener in Australia and a sixth-place finish in the Sprint race in China. He earned three points from the Sprint and currently sits 13th in the standings, four places ahead of Liam Lawson.