Liam Lawson has been handed an opportunity of a lifetime as he will race alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025. But history has shown that the second Red Bull seat can be as much of a blessing as it can be a curse.
In the past, the Milton Keynes-based team has been ruthless with their second drivers. The likes of Alex Albon, Daniil Kvyat, and Pierre Gasly have barely survived for a season or more. Speaking about Lawson‘s debut, former Red Bull driver, Christian Klien delivered a warning with those drivers in hindsight.
“I hope they don’t put too much pressure under him [Lawson]. They made the mistake with Kvyat, with Albon, et cetera, et cetera,” he said on The Business of Winning podcast.
“I think they learned from it what they need, the second driver who scores points, and they can go for the Constructors Championship again,” he added.
Team advisor, Helmut Marko has gone on to set clear guidelines for the Kiwi driver’s time with the Bulls. Whilst he doesn’t expect Lawson to beat Verstappen on track, he wants the 23-year-old to be consistently as close to the Dutchman as possible.
The Austrian told RTL, “He should be within three-tenths of Max in both in qualifying and in the race. That should be enough to get points for the Constructors’ Championship.”
Marko went on to warn Lawson about setting his sights on Verstappen. He urged him to not make the mistake of trying to beat the four-time world champion, but rather develop himself to the best of his capabilities as the season progresses.
Red Bull’s shift in mentality with Sergio Perez that bodes well for Lawson
After Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from the team at the end of the 2018 season, Gasly got the step up alongside Verstappen for 2019. The Frenchman couldn’t even make it through an entire season as the team lost patience and sacked him in favor of Albon.
Albon did make a strong impression in the latter half of the 2019 season. But poor results and a lack of confidence in 2020 meant Red Bull axed him at the end of the year. That’s when Sergio Perez was drafted into the team from 2021 onwards.
And whilst the #11 driver was considerably off the pace since 2022, he has been the longest-serving second driver to Verstappen since Ricciardo. This might bode well for Lawson who can expect a similar level of patience from the Bulls’ hierarchy.
That said, it is pertinent to note that one of the major reasons why Red Bull waited so long before pulling the plug on Project Perez was the commercial benefits they got from his bevy of sponsors. This will not be the case for a relatively green Lawson.
