F1 News
Horner warns Lawson: 'Being Verstappen's teammate is the hardest job in F1'
Christian Horner has warned Liam Lawson that he has now got "the hardest job in Formula 1" as Max Verstappen's teammate. It will be the first full season in the premier class of motorsport for the New Zealander, but there is plenty of confidence in him from the Red Bull Racing team principal.
Horner excited to see "incredibly talented" Lawson race
Lawson has only raced in 11 Grands Prix in his F1 career so far having very little behind the wheel. However, in those races for Racing Bulls, a lot of talent and promise were shown, resulting in Horner making the call to replace Sergio Perez with the 22-year-old instead of Yuki Tsunoda, who will, stay at the sister team for yet another season.
It may not be a huge amount of racing to go off, but Horner believes that Lawson is ready for this challenge: "It's great to have Liam with us this year," Horner began at a Ford event. "Being Max Verstappen's teammate is probably the hardest job in Formula 1. But in Liam, I think we have got a driver who is incredibly talented."
"He is a young guy, just making his way in the sport, and I think that he has the skill, the determination and the mentality to cope with it. I mean, it looks like he should be in a boy band...," added the Red Bull team boss jokingly while chatting with Lawson on stage during the event.
Lawson himself then spoke about the upcoming season, saying that he thinks he is ready, but also realises that he faces a big challenge: "It's very exciting, but obviously, a big role. For me, I'm not super experienced in Formula 1, but I have been involved in the sport for a few years as a reserve driver in the background, so I do feel ready and excited. Obviously, the first part of the season is coming up fast, so preparations are pretty big at the moment," Lawson said.
This article was created in collaboration with Nicole Mulder
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