However, in saying that, Red Bull will only tolerate one of their cars scoring points for so long.
Here’s what we learned in Melbourne:
Playing second fiddle
There was never any doubt that Red Bull would favour Verstappen over Lawson. The Dutchman has rightfully been able to dictate how the team prepares its car, year after year, with four world titles to show for his efforts.
That, though, has largely come at the expense of his teammates. And while Red Bull will never intentionally favour Verstappen to the point where Lawson will fail to finish the race, that’s exactly what happened in Melbourne.
Starting from pit lane, Lawson was effectively 13th at the time of his retirement, considering Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto had just been hit with a five-second penalty.
But as rain returned, and the drivers headed for the pits, Lawson was left out on a wet track to afford Verstappen the opportunity to change his tyres first, and keep pace with the two McLaren cars.
Any team would have done the same thing, prioritising its lead driver. However, at a time where Red Bull have struggled to find a driver to consistently match Verstappen, the team will need to do whatever it can to make sure Lawson gets all the support he needs, on track, over the coming week.
Mental toughness on show
One of the key reasons Lawson was afforded the chance to step into Red Bull over the likes of Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda was his mental resilience and inner belief.
Over a tough weekend, that was on show in the 45 laps Lawson completed at Albert Park.
Formula One drivers are fragile creatures. At last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, then-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton demanded his car be retired after being hit with a penalty.
But as Lawson endured setback after setback after setback throughout the weekend, the Kiwi didn’t back down once.
Even from the back of the grid, Lawson had passed five cars on track, and was on course to add a sixth at the time of his crash. Ultimately, though, it yielded no points for Red Bull.
Now, though, he’ll need to show all that resilience and more as he fights to get accustomed to the RB21.
Lightning strikes four times
First came Pierre Gasly. Then Alex Albon, then Sergio Perez. Now, Red Bull will hope Lawson’s name doesn’t follow on the list of teammates to be crushed by Verstappen.
Lawson’s three predecessors failed to completely come to terms with cars that accentuated Verstappen’s strengths, at the cost of their own.
In short, Red Bull’s recent cars have been tailored to Verstappen’s aggression, and look to keep pace through high speed corners. That’s traded off for stability, though, and means drivers are at risk of losing the back of the car as they exit.
We saw Lawson do exactly that at pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Lawson was backed ahead of drivers much senior than himself to be Verstappen’s partner for many reasons. One of which was his similar nature to the world champion, but it will still take time to adapt to the RB21’s unforgiving nature.
Admittedly, we’re only one race into 2025, and there is still plenty of time for Lawson to get up to speed with his new machinery.
But as evidenced by those who came before, Red Bull are not known for their patience.
Lawson’s biggest strength can save Red Bull’s season
Right through his young career, Lawson has picked up a very good, well earned, reputation for his driver feedback aiding in his car’s development.
During his time in Japan’s Super Formula, Lawson immediately hit the ground running with defending champions Team Mugen, and made them even better, even if he was denied the drivers' championship in the last race of the season.
While this will be his first season starting from the first race, Lawson has been a test and reserve driver for both Red Bull teams since 2022. It would be too much to say Lawson’s testing feedback is the sole reason Red Bull have been as dominant as they have over the past four seasons, but he has played his role to perfection.
Given both Red Bull drivers have already admitted to this year’s car being well off the pace, the team will need all of that and more if they’re going to challenge McLaren, and eventually Ferrari, for the world title.
There are a number of issues with Red Bull’s car. All weekend, both drivers battled their tyres overheating in the final sector, while Lawson was handed a different nose to his teammate.
It’s clear that Red Bull have suffered by longtime car designer, Adrian Newey, leaving to join Aston Martin.
Team senior adviser Dr Helmut Marko has outlined that issues with the car have been found after Bahrain testing, and there will be upgrades “within three to five races”.
Just how effective those will be, remains to be seen.
Onwards and upwards
All Red Bull can do from here is look forward. The next Grand Prix is just a week away, and will also see the season’s first sprint race for good measure.
If it means anything, the Shanghai International Circuit is more of a genuine race track than Albert Park — a street circuit.
The long straights in the final sector should hopefully play more into Lawson’s hands than the tight turns of Melbourne did, provided he gets through the very technical first and second.
However, as was the case with Melbourne, it’s also a track Lawson hasn’t driven on before, after four seasons off the calendar following Covid-19.
But Lawson has bounced back from bad weekends in the past, and there’s no reason why he can’t do it again in Shanghai.
