Red Bull Racing and Liam Lawson enter the F1 Chinese GP coming off of a disappointing debut in Australia, with a late-race crash due to a tyre strategy error.
Focused on this coming weekend
Following a tough qualifying in which mistakes contributed to Lawson failing to reach Q2, the team opted to make late adjustments to the driver’s RB21. This resulted in the Kiwi driver starting from the pit lane alongside fellow rookie Ollie Bearman.
On lap 47, Lawson was on medium-compound slick tyres on a wet track when he hit the barriers in turn 2.
Despite this tough outing in Australia, the young Red Bull driver has his sights firmly set on this weekend.
Lawson was asked how important it is not to enter into a negative spiral following a disappointing first showing in his print media session on Thursday.
“I don’t think after one race we can go into a spiral. Obviously, we all have high expectations anyway. Melbourne was below mine, personally, obviously. We’re just looking to have a good weekend.”
When asked about a possible shift in approach to this weekend’s Chinese GP, the driver states his ambition to maintain the same mindset.
“In terms of my approach, it’s very similar to last week. It’s very similar to how I’ve approached races since being in Formula 1. I don’t think that will change too much.
“I think, honestly, each day I drive the car, I get more comfortable.”
Lawson also commented on the quick one-week turnaround between the Australian GP and China. The Kiwi stated that it is a positive thing following an unfortunate previous race.
“You have a good weekend, sometimes you want to sit on it for a little bit, and then when you have a bad weekend, you just want to go racing again.
“So, for me, yes, it’s good. But also, I think, just to have lots of races at the start of the season, we have a week off and then a triple-header, and I think just with how little experience I have in this car, it’s just going to be good to do more weekends and get more comfortable and more familiar.
Pressure and Red Bull’s ruthless reputation
Both Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB/Racing Bulls had a tumultuous 2024 season that continued into the off-season.
Liam Lawson logged six races for the Racing Bulls in the 2024 season. This came as a result of the team dropping both Nyck de Vries and his replacement, Daniel Ricciardo.
Lawson understands the pressure on him to perform in the second Red Bull seat.
“I know how Red Bull is. If you go through half the year not performing that, they’ll have no difficulty in switching you.”
When asked if there is a difference in pressure having a bad race on the top team compared to last year, Lawson denied this.
“I don’t think so. I think last year it’s even more different because I had no seat. So I think I had those races, but I had no guarantee for this year. So each race was sort of, yeah, felt like an evaluation for just being in Formula 1. And obviously, I know that there’s no guarantee in Formula 1.
“We’ve done the prep before the season, and it’s a more, I guess, yeah, rounded setup that I’ve had now than I’ve ever had in previous years.”
Lots still to learn about the car
With the unprecedented rainy conditions at Albert Park, teams have a lot of data to analyze and learn from for the coming season.
On the C4 medium-compound tyre, Lawson had some serious pace, logging the second-fastest lap time of the race behind Lando Norris and ahead of teammate Max Verstappen on lap 43.
“Our small stint on the dry tyre was good. The pace was fast there. We had a very different balance on that dry tyre to the inter-tyre. I think we took a lot of notice into where we had the car for that dry stint versus the inter-stint.
“Always little bits we’ll learn. That’s something that, as we continue the season, we’ll start to figure out things that, personally, I like in the car, which we just don’t have enough experience yet to know. That’ll be stuff we learn and figure out along the way.”
Questions arose last season surrounding the driveability of the 2024 RB20 car and how difficult it was to drive for Max Verstappen, and more notably Sergio Pérez.
When asked about how the RB21 felt during Lawson’s Australian GP, he claims it’s so far, so good. He also had experience of the 2024 car in the simulator before returning to the grid at Racing Bulls.
“Obviously I didn’t really spend too much time in last year’s car, but I did in the simulator, and I know how it was. So I would say it’s a step easier to drive. But I think we’re still figuring out ways to completely maximise that.”
The big question: how does Red Bull measure up to the threat of McLaren so far?
In both qualifying and the race at Albert Park last weekend, McLaren had a clear advantage over Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, whether it was wet or dry. The MCL38 is a brilliantly quick car, and it’s low tyre degradation over a stint is helping out as well.
“McLaren has a step on everyone, and then I’d say us, Ferrari, Mercedes, are a bit closer. Yeah, I think that’s pretty much how it sits. I think especially in the long runs, McLaren are very, very strong.”
It is still too early to make major assumptions regarding the performance of the cars. Lawson talked about the grid-wide difficulty of familiarizing oneself with a new car after just one race so far.
“Obviously, having one, this weekend is going to be tough, but we all have one. We’ll all be dealing with the same thing.
“I think the team did a really good job in Melbourne, especially on Max’s side, to find some performance from Friday to Saturday. And obviously, we need to just do more of that this weekend and in the future.”
