Red Bull F1 chief warns Liam Lawson not to try beating Max Verstappen
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Liam Lawson has been ordered not to try to beat Max Verstappen by Red Bull. The Kiwi has been promoted from their junior squad to partner Verstappen in 2025. The hope is he will be able to perform more consistently than Sergio Perez, who was relieved of his place after four seasons following a dismal final campaign in which his poor results cost the team in its bid for the constructors' championship.
Long-serving team adviser Helmut Marko has said many times that he felt Perez's main problem was that he tried too hard to match of beat what Verstappen could do. And the Austrian feels Lawson will benefit from avoiding falling into the same trap. He said of Lawson: "He should be able to stay within three tenths of Max both in qualifying and in the races. That should be enough to accumulate points for the constructors' championship.
"Gradually he will have to improve as much as possible, but always keeping in mind that he is driving alongside the best F1 driver at the moment. In doing so, he should not get involved in the technical side of things, such as set-ups and strategies, for example, something other team-mates have done in the past.
"Liam will have to accept that Verstappen is the best. We will see how close he can get, but he should not get in the car with the aim of beating Verstappen. That has gone wrong with all his team-mates.". Lawson was promoted to the top Red Bull team despite having just 11 Formula 1 race starts to his name. In contrast, how now former team-mate at sister squad RB, Yuki Tsunoda, has been racing in the sport for four years - but was again overlooked.
