The Red Bull Academy has arguably produced some of the best F1 drivers in recent times. In the late 2000s, it was Sebastian Vettel who came through the ranks and now it is three-time champion Max Verstappen, who is still going strong. And as per former F1 owner Eddie Jordan, Liam Lawson is the next “real deal”.
“In my opinion, Lawson is the real deal here. He drove with a lot of pressure (in Sao Paulo), a lot of people hanging in the back of him. And he knows how to handle himself,” Jordan said on the Formula for Success podcast.
The Irishman praised how Lawson valiantly fought Lewis Hamilton — who despite having his struggles with the W15 — had a better car underneath. Jordan urged Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to sign the New Zealander “now” and not wait until next year. The Irishman believes that if Red Bull sign Lawson now, they will “fly in 2025”.
Wild race but happy to walk away with double points Big thanks to the team for all their efforts over the weekend!#F1 #VCARB #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/GJ25YPFqU6
— Liam Lawson (@LiamLawson30) November 3, 2024
Jordan then explained that Red Bull have already given Sergio Perez — the driver who could make the way for Lawson sometime in the future — too many chances and it is high time they replace him. The 76-year-old is confident that Red Bull will never win the Constructors’ Championship again with Perez, considering the way the teams have closed in on the Milton Keynes-based outfit this year.
There has indeed been a stark contrast in the performances that Lawson and Perez have delivered in the last three races. Lawson managed to score points in his very first race this season in the USA after he stepped in for the sacked Daniel Ricciardo mid-season.
He then added another couple of points by finishing ninth in Brazil, one place ahead of Hamilton. On the contrary, Perez’s performances have been nothing short of disastrous. Despite arguably driving one of the fastest cars on the grid, the best he managed in the last three races was a seventh-place finish at the US GP.
Considering Perez’s recent struggles, many experts believe that the question isn’t whether Red Bull will sack him or not. Rather, it is about who will they replace him with.
Red Bull are also considering Franco Colapinto
Just like Lawson, Colapinto is another driver who has been highly impressive. After stepping in for Logan Sargeant at Williams, the Argentine has already scored five points after his first six races. In stark contrast, the American driver managed just one point for Williams despite driving for them for a year and a half.
Such performances from Colapinto have even led to Horner admitting that he would be a bad team principal if he was not monitoring the Argentine’s performances. Horner believes that his role requires him to identify upcoming talent and that the 21-year-old does seem to have put in performances worthy enough of getting his attention.
The rumors about Colapinto to Red Bull were further fueled after Horner recently visited Williams’ motorhome. While the Red Bull boss did not reveal why he made such a visit, it can only be assumed that he was keen to have discussions about Colapinto. After all, even reports have claimed that Red Bull are considering Colapinto to replace Perez and not Lawson.
This would be a huge blow to Lawson as he would have had high expectations of being the favorite to replace the Mexican driver, considering most of the talk has been about him. And now seeing another driver with fewer races under his belt grab the spotlight would certainly concern Lawson.
