Horner questioned: 'Why didn't you do with Lawson what Wolff did Antonelli?'

The Italian driver made a strong debut at the Australian Grand Prix, coming back from P16 to fourth in tough conditions that saw Lawson drop out of the race when crashing on the exit of turn 1.

But Antonelli was given an intensive TPC [Testing in a Previous Car] schedule by Mercedes, something the Kiwi driver did not have a chance to do and after just two race weekends, Lawson is set to be dropped by Red Bull, with Yuki Tsunoda expected to be announced as Max Verstappen's teammate for the Japanese Grand Prix.

"We’ve talked a lot about Kimi Antonelli," Collins told the Sky Sports F1 Show. "The testing that he’s done in that Mercedes. If he was doing the same test in the Williams or the Mercedes-engine car, it's not giving him the same thing." 

The point Collins made was in reference to Lawson's previous F1 experience, having substituted for Daniel Ricciardo across two seasons in the AlphaTauri/RB.

Horner questioned: why did Lawson not have testing time?

"We've spoken about how the Red Bull is really tricky to drive. It’s a very specific car. It’s not the same as the Racing Bulls," added Collins.

"What I’d love to know, what we should have asked Christian is, why did Red Bull not do a similar program to Mercedes with Liam Lawson, or whoever is going to be in the second seat? Why was he not doing 60 test days last year in a four-year-old Red Bull?

"It’s going to have the same characteristics. There’s no cost cap limit in that. He could have stepped into the car in a much, much stronger position than he currently is."