Red Bull boss Christian Horner has backed Liam Lawson ahead of today’s Australian Grand Prix qualifying session, acknowledging the Kiwi has “the toughest job in Formula One”.
In two sessions in Melbourne yesterday — his first drives at Albert Park – Lawson finished 16th and17th out of the 19 drivers who set times.
“It’s a big step up,” said Horner. “Being Max Verstappen’s teammate is probably the toughest job in Formula One, but he’s got the mental attitude and strength of character to deal with that.
“He’s not been here before. I think he’s the only driver on the grid that hasn’t done some laps around this circuit,” Horner told Sky Sport.
“He’s finding his feet and he’s giving very good feedback. He’s settling in nicely, so we’ll see over the next few races.”
Six rookies in the field have driven at Albert Park before, as Formula Two has supported Formula One in Melbourne in recent seasons but that was not the case when Lawson drove in the competition.
In the second session, Lawson’s speed improved over the first run, during which he brushed the wall at turn nine.
Lawson was 0.759s behind his teammate, the world champion Verstappen, in the first practice session, and 0.577s back in the second. Red Bull’s senior adviser Helmut Marko has said Lawson needs to be within 0.3s per lap of the Dutchman.
Horner urged his new ace to ignore distractions when driving today.
“I think the main thing is just focus on himself.
“Almost ignore what’s going on with the other car, just focus on himself, on working with his engineers and extracting the best that he can.
“He’s got a steep learning curve, but everything that we’ve seen in the junior formula and the testing that he’s done with us, he’s got the ability to take that on and grow. We’ve just got to give him time.”
The 22-year-old New Zealander was promoted to Red Bull Racing’s second seat after replacing Australian Daniel Ricciardo at sister team Racing Bulls for the final six races of the 2024 season.
