Lawson agrees with Marko's approach: "That certainly helps"

"Especially in the early years, he was scary," Lawson remembers. The New Zealander has been part of Red Bull's junior programme since 2019. Marko leads that programme and is particularly demanding."He knows what he wants from us and always makes that very clear during the talks. But that's part of it and over the years you get used to it."

Marko is very straightforward and that is not always nice to hear, but the 20-year-old driver tries to see it mainly as an advantage. "Of course it is a lot of pressure, but that is exactly what we want as drivers. If I ever made it to Formula 1, I would be better prepared. Other drivers struggle with the media hype and outside pressure, we have experienced that in the years before, so that definitely helps," he says.

Lawson and F1

Lawson is currently fifth in the Formula 2 standings. There is no chance of winning the championship in this rookie class as the gap is too wide at the halfway point of the season. For next year there is still one place available at Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri. Only Yuki Tsunoda's contract has not been renewed yet, but it doesn't look like Lawson is a very serious contender at the moment.