With rumours surrounding Liam Lawson’s future at Red Bull, there is a case to be made to give Lawson more time in the RB21 rather than swing the axe.
Lawson had endured a brutal start to the new season with no points for Red Bull amidst some disappointing performances, which has seen rumours grow that Yuki Tsunoda could replace him from the Japanese Grand Prix onwards.
The campaign however is just two rounds in which means that there is an argument to be had for keeping Lawson in the cockpit for a few more races at least, rather than harshly swinging the axe as the New Zealander continues to adapt to his new team.
From patience to adaptability and even the future, Red Bull really need to think carefully about why keeping Lawson in the cockpit might be a wise move to make.
Not Enough Time
Despite suffering Q1 exits in Qualifying for both Australian and Chinese Grands Prix plus Chinese Sprint Qualifying, it is important to remember that both events were the first two events of the season which didn’t give Lawson enough time to get a proper measure of the RB21 – especially after he missed FP3 in Australia due to an issue.
Lawson also had to deal with a wet-race debut for Red Bull where anyone could of easily made the race-ending mistake that he did, before being thrust straight into a sprint weekend in China with little time to build on his learnings from Australia.
Red Bull therefore should allow the Kiwi some leeway given that he is still adapting to the team and RB21 which has been designed to suit Max Verstappen, although even Verstappen has spoken of issues with the car which highlights that the issues aren’t totally on Lawson for his poor performances.
There is now a near-fortnight gap between China and Japan which Red Bull could ideally maximise in working with Lawson to analyse the data from the opening two rounds, which could benefit him if can sort out his weaknesses in the RB21 and give him one last chance to take a step forward in Suzuka using the lessons learned.
The fact that Japan forms the start of a triple-header with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to follow however is counting against him, but Red Bull would look foolish to axe him rather than for example advising him that those three races are make-or-break for his future at the team.
Adapting to New Environment
Having done 11 races for Red Bull’s sister team where the pressure would of been considerably different to the main team, Lawson is currently adapting to a more intense environment where some patience as he settles in would be ideal support.
Not only is Lawson having to build new working relationships with his engineering team but he also has a four-time reigning champion as a teammate, which is no easy feat for any young driver stepping up into a top team without having done a proper full season in F1 before.
Red Bull should recognise those aspects and try to help steer the car to suit Lawson’s style more rather than centre the car’s characteristics solely around Verstappen, particularly if want the constructors’ title as they need the car to suit both drivers in that scenario rather than one and expecting the other to totally adapt their own style.
In fact Lawson’s radio messages about the issues with his car have been incredibly clear and concise from balance to turning issues and more, which is a huge positive for Red Bull in understanding where he has been struggling and he deserves a chance to have his feedback addressed and tested in Japan at least.
Look to Future
Although the heat is currently on Lawson’s future, Red Bull would be wise to have one eye on the future because of rumours over Verstappen’s future beyond this season which might make it worth grinding out this tough period with Lawson and putting focus on 2026 which sees major technical regulation changes.
The reason behind that is largely because if Verstappen opts to leave at end of season, Red Bull could face the possibility of having to go into next season with no driver reference point due to a lack of continuity given that they had always had continuity with one driver when their driver line-up underwent change.
That most recent continuity has been Verstappen and if whoever replaces Lawson was to also fail and too leave at end of season then Red Bull would go into 2026 largely blind in terms of car design reference point, albeit with a totally new driver line-up then they would be up against it adapting to the new regulations without a continuous driver link.
If considering axing Lawson now, Red Bull would do well to think carefully about the future as it might just be worth supporting Lawson, which could pay off if Verstappen does indeed depart as Lawson would then become that key driver reference point for designing next season’s car.
