General
Why Lawson's move to Red Bull is a remarkable decision
- Ludo van Denderen
A little over a year ago, Liam Lawson was not good enough to replace Nyck de Vries at the then AlphaTauri, and the declining Daniel Ricciardo was brought in. Now, next season, Lawson will be Max Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull Racing. That's how fast things can go, apparently. It is a transition that the New Zealander is, of course, granted, but there are still some question marks about it.
When Christian Horner talked about the successor of Sergio Perez after the replacement of the Mexican, he indicated that performance would be taken into account. In other words: Perez's replacement had to be Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver managed to beat Lawson in all six race weekends during qualifying, while Lawson had a P9 as the best place. Tsunoda also scored more points in their combined time.
Lawson is not a top-talent
But no. Red Bull Racing chose Liam Lawson, a driver who has 11 Grands Prix to his name - significantly less than Max Verstappen when he made the switch from the sister team to Red Bull Racing. So is Lawson as much of a super-talent as Verstappen? No, is the short answer. In none of the classes that eventually brought Lawson to Formula 1 did he manage to become champion - apart from the modest winter series in New Zealand.
Lawson has shown that he has the potential to be a good F1 driver. Not spectacular, but good. Still, that shouldn't be enough for Red Bull. The team has won championship after championship in recent years, and with Lawson, they haven't brought in someone who you know in advance will finish just behind Verstappen in every race. We're not even talking about beating Verstappen. Is this the driver who will help Red Bull Racing win the constructors' title next season?
The risk of failure is also particularly high. Formula 1 is a tough world, and with eleven Grands Prix, you don't exactly enter Red Bull as an experienced player. You have to know the ropes if you want to hold your own in a team where you will always be compared to one of the best drivers in the history of the sport. History has shown how Verstappen crushes his teammates, which clearly ate away at Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez.
Why doesn't Tsunoda get the chance?
Would Yuki Tsunoda have turned out to be Verstappen 2.0? Probably not, but he has more experience, and with his bravado, he was probably someone who would break less quickly. By also ignoring Tsunoda, Racing Bulls is now stuck with a dissatisfied and misunderstood driver, with whom you have to go into another season. Good luck managing that.
Of course, it is understandable that Liam Lawson would grab the opportunity at Red Bull Racing with both hands. Every driver wants to race in a top team. But Red Bull Racing should have protected him and themselves and opted for the safest option. Yuki Tsunoda, in other words.
If things didn't go as hoped with the Japanese, the switch could still be made in 2025. In that case, Lawson would have gained some more Grand Prix experience. If things go wrong now, Red Bull has written off Lawson, but Tsunoda as well.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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