General
Three tips to Liam Lawson: This is how the Red Bull adventure will be a success
- Ludo van Denderen
All eyes will be on Liam Lawson, as the New Zealand born driver was given the chance to race for Red Bull Racing in 2025. The big question is going to be how he fares against Max Verstappen, who has almost six times as many Grand Prix victories as Lawson has F1 starts. To succeed at the top Austrian team, the Red Bull junior needs to focus on a number of things. GPblog lists three of them.
Lawson must look to himself
In a sport where your teammate is your main opponent, surely the most important thing for Lawson is not to look at the other side of the garage above all else. Before he has driven a single metre, there must be the realisation that he is not going to beat Verstappen. So why try, at the risk of going over the limit?
Lawson needs to focus on himself and really no one else. For him, the 2025 season is all about learning, and yes, mistakes are going to be part of that. But even then, the 11-time GP starter has to stay calm, fall back on his foundational qualities and then keep going steadfastly.
Lawson should disregard the media
In no sport in the world is such a small group of people under such a huge magnifying glass. Every word an F1 driver says, every kilometre he drives; it's all discussed at length in the press. No doubt media will compare Lawson to Verstappen, but - referring to the prior block- Red Bull's second driver should mostly ignore that. Best not even read it.
Only then will he remain completely fresh in the mind and averse to externally imposed pressure. Plenty of drivers have succumbed to that in the past. Just ask Pierre Gasly or Sergio Perez, some of his predecessors at Red Bull Racing.
Lawson needs to keep the car on the tarmac
It sounds like trite advice, because of course an F1 driver does not want to put his car in the gravel or in the wall. But in difficult moments, which Lawson is bound to experience, athletes sometimes tend to want just a bit too much. Or, in the case of an F1 driver, to brake just a little later than he should, or to dive into a gap where it would have been better not to.
No doubt, Red Bull Racing is taking into account that Lawson incurs in some damages here and there. Virtually every driver does so at some point, but if it happens, it can't be a constant situation. No team expects a car to be written off every week, resulting in a huge expense. In that case, Lawson's career at Red Bull would be over in no time.
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