NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Motorsport / Formula 1

Formula 1: Liam Lawson’s place in Red Bull’s impossible decision, what we learned at Qatar Grand Prix - Opinion

Alex Powell
By Alex Powell
Sports Journalist·NZ Herald·
1 Dec, 2024 09:35 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Liam Lawson finished 14th after an incident-filled Qatar Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images

Liam Lawson finished 14th after an incident-filled Qatar Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images

Alex Powell
Opinion by Alex Powell
Alex Powell is a Sports Journalist for the NZ Herald.
Learn more
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

THREE KEY FACTS

  • Liam Lawson finished 14th after an incident-filled Qatar Grand Prix
  • Red Bull are still to announce if they’ll keep struggling driver Sergio Perez for 2025
  • There is arguably no clear contender to take his seat if and when a chance is made

The 2024 Qatar Grand Prix will hardly be remembered as one of Formula One’s great races.

However, in the context of which driver Red Bull will decide to pair with Max Verstappen in 2025, the race itself as part of the wider picture could be telling.

As contenders Sergio Perez and Franco Colapinto failed to finish, Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda boosted their chances.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, with all things considered, Red Bull won’t be any clearer as to who they’ll want in their top team.

Here’s what we learned at the Losail International Circuit:

Is there a Red Bull frontrunner?

With one race now left in the season, there is still plenty to play for.

Perez’s failure to finish on a weekend where his teammate won leaves the gap between the Red Bull drivers at 277 points. The gap between Red Bull and McLaren in the constructors championship is now 59 points.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Liam Lawson in front of Yuki Tsunoda qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images
Liam Lawson in front of Yuki Tsunoda qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images

While harsh, the Mexican driver’s repeated failures this season has cost Red Bull tens of millions of dollars. And while he does bring in huge sponsorship from Mexico, we’re now at the point where the Peso won’t offset that.

The only issue for Red Bull is the lack of an obvious replacement. Objectivity aside, Lawson - at this point - probably hasn’t done enough to step up into Red Bull next year.

Discover more

Formula 1

Lawson takes 14th place in drama-filled Qatar Grand Prix

01 Dec 05:44 PM
Formula 1

Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix: Lawson out of points again

01 Dec 05:40 PM
Formula 1

F1: Liam Lawson accuses rival of sabotaging Qatar qualifying run

30 Nov 07:05 PM
Formula 1

Lawson struggles to 16th as Verstappen crowned world champion

24 Nov 07:31 AM

Teammate Tsunoda’s place with the team is tied to engine supplier Honda, and means his future could lie elsewhere when its Red Bull deal ends in 2026 to move to Aston Martin.

Reserve driver Isack Hadjar hasn’t driven in Formula One, and surely won’t be thrown in the deep end at Red Bull? In Formula Three, Red Bull prodigy Arvind Lindblad is making waves, but is also not ready.

Externally, Williams’ Colapinto remains linked with a Red Bull switch, but has now crashed for three straight race weekends, with two ending his Grands Prix.

Once all is said and done, it could be the Red Bull shareholders of all people who decide the winner of this race.

Crossing the line

Formula One is no place for participation trophies, but Lawson should be commended on surviving the chaos to even finish the race.

Four drivers were forced out through on-track incidents, another retired altogether from damage suffered in avoiding one. Of those five drivers, Perez and Nico Hulkenberg both have more than 200 races worth of experience. Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll have more than 150 each.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Physically, Qatar is one of the most difficult races on the calendar. The high temperatures last year saw it moved to December to try to negate the challenges it brought. On track, the number of high-speed corners can play havoc with a driver, lap, after lap, after lap.

Kiwi Liam Lawson in action during the Qatar Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images
Kiwi Liam Lawson in action during the Qatar Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images

Lawson getting to the finish continues his record of completing every race he’s started, something his Racing Bulls team will be thankful for in an era where writing cars off counts towards the cost cap spending limits.

What’s more, he was also able to keep his composure after the incident with Valtteri Bottas saw him penalised.

For reference, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton told his Mercedes team he wanted to retire the car, after he was hit by a penalty late in the race.

Learning curve

With just six races guaranteed in Lawson’s 2024 stint, Qatar is the only repeat from the five-race spell he completed last year.

On that occasion, he was the last of the drivers to finish the race, in conditions where more than one seasoned campaigner admitted to struggling.

Make no mistake, Red Bull would have had this race circled on the calendar to evaluate Lawson’s improvement.

While finishing 14th might not jump off the page, Lawson’s efforts in sprint qualifying show that the pace is there over a single lap.

He’s also shown he’s improving race to race. Having qualified for the Grand Prix in 17th, Lawson was 14th by the end of the first lap, only for a misjudgment to cause the incident with Bottas and earn a penalty.

Lawson did apologise to his Sauber opposite after the race.

Head to head

The first point of reference in motorsport is how you do against your teammate. Equal machinery is the truest gauge of where drivers compare, on track.

With that being said, Lawson finishing behind Tsunoda for the third race in a row isn’t what the Kiwi needed.

Read what you want into Racing Bulls’ decision to pit both of their drivers late for the soft tyres to effectively set up a shootout on track between Lawson and Tsunoda. This time around, you’d have to objectively give the win to Tsunoda.

Within the context of Red Bull’s decision, neither Lawson nor Tsunoda have comprehensively outperformed the other. Last season, Lawson led the finishes 4-1, however, Tsunodo holds a 3-2 lead heading into the final week of 2024.

Red Bull adviser Dr Helmut Marko has indicated Tsunoda’s temperament may keep him from a place in the senior team next year.

Throughout the season, Tsunoda has 30 points from his 23 races. Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo only manage a combined 16 points. If it’s judged solely on results, it’s entirely plausible to see a Verstappen-Tsunoda pairing next year.

Whether politics will allow it, though, is something else.

Abu Dhabi decider

In Lawson’s favour, though, is his record at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

While he may have sat out of 2023 in his Red Bull reserve role, the 2022 season saw Lawson strive at the Yas Marina Circuit - albeit in Formula Two.

Needing two podium finishes to take third in that season’s championship, Lawson took first place in the sprint race, and third in the feature race to sneak past Logan Sargeant.

So much of Formula One is recency bias. Red Bull only hired Perez for 2021 after he won the season-ending Bahrain Grand Prix for what was then Racing Point, now Aston Martin.

If the Kiwi can produce anything close to those results when the season comes to an end next week, it would leave him in great stead to be the one Red Bull turn to for 2025.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Formula 1

Premium
Opinion

Alex Powell: What does Red Bull’s Verstappen problem mean for Lawson?

06 Jul 11:45 PM
Formula 1

‘Who the hell was that?’: Lawson taken out on first lap at Silverstone

06 Jul 02:20 PM
Formula 1

'I have no idea': Slip costs Lawson in British Grand Prix qualifying

05 Jul 03:15 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Formula 1

Premium
Alex Powell: What does Red Bull’s Verstappen problem mean for Lawson?

Alex Powell: What does Red Bull’s Verstappen problem mean for Lawson?

06 Jul 11:45 PM

OPINION: What we learned from the British Grand Prix.

‘Who the hell was that?’: Lawson taken out on first lap at Silverstone

‘Who the hell was that?’: Lawson taken out on first lap at Silverstone

06 Jul 02:20 PM
'I have no idea': Slip costs Lawson in British Grand Prix qualifying

'I have no idea': Slip costs Lawson in British Grand Prix qualifying

05 Jul 03:15 PM
'A good start': Lawson fast in Silverstone practice, logs two top-10 finishes

'A good start': Lawson fast in Silverstone practice, logs two top-10 finishes

04 Jul 04:08 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP