Lawson compared to Verstappen: 'But that could be difficult...'

For Sergio Perez, the 2024 season was one to forget. The driver last stepped on the podium in China, and finished eighth in the drivers standings. On the other hand, Max Verstappen has secured his fourth world title already by the Las Vegas GP. Perez's lesser performance also led to the team finishing third in the constructors' standings even with having the driver who scored the most points this season.

Albers is big fan of Lawson, but also of Tsunoda

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has told GPblog among others in the paddock that Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda would be the candidates for the second seat, should Perez lose his seat. He also ruled out the possibility of Franco Colapinto joining. Former driver Christijan Albers sees that a new teammate could be very beneficial. "I think it will be good if there will be a new person driving alongside Max," he revealed in De Telegraaf's Formula 1 podcast.

"I am very excited about Lawson, I think he should get that chance. But I think Yuki has also performed very well and made few mistakes. Helmut Marko says once that he crashes off in qualifying, but if you look over 24 races, that is not so bad," the Dutchman added, praising both VCARB drivers.

Are Lawson and Verstappen similar?

If Albers would need to choose between to two, he would prefer Lawson, as he believes the New Zeleander has a higher potential. According to him, there are some similarities between Lawson and the four-time champion.

"I see some traits that he is not really impressed by other people. So he goes a bit towards Verstappen. They both have a bit of a lack of it. When you have two of those, it can be a difficult story. I wonder how much he can contain that when he drives next to Verstappen, that's where my only doubt remains."

This article was written in collaboration with Jeroen Immink

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