Third Q1 elimination for Liam Lawson, who will once again start from the last spot. Is Tsunoda warming up?
When Red Bull decided to drop Sergio Perez in favor of Liam Lawson on December 19th last year, everyone expected an immediate improvement in results and a closer gap to Max Verstappen’s times. Instead, today marks Lawson’s third Q1 elimination in as many attempts.
While his teammate Max Verstappen has fought for pole position on two occasions, awaiting this morning’s results, the New Zealand driver is struggling much more than expected to find a good feeling with the RB21.
In particular, yesterday, Liam Lawson stated at the end of the Sprint Qualifying: “I was out, so yes, it’s obviously a shame. I think from the starting point it wasn’t too bad; the first lap went well, and then we were just trying to build from there, but we stayed out to try to cool the tires on track.”
“To be honest, I really struggled to bring the temperatures down starting the second lap, so we started too hot, and then I just struggled throughout the lap. It’s frustrating.” Our pace should be much higher than where we are,” the New Zealand driver concluded.
Indeed, in this morning’s Sprint Race, there were signs of improvement, with Lawson making a couple of great overtakes that saw him climb up to 14th place, though he was still over two seconds behind the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar.
Yet, in 2024, the New Zealand driver had never struggled so much on a single lap, even qualifying in fifth place in wet conditions and in eighth position in both qualifying sessions of the Brazilian GP, despite driving a significantly inferior car like the Racing Bulls from last season.
Third Q1 elimination for Liam Lawson: the pressure from Yuki Tsunoda.
After just two races, rumors have already circulated in the paddock suggesting a promotion for Yuki Tsunoda, who is performing excellently behind the wheel of the Racing Bulls, to replace the New Zealand driver.
In response to these rumors, Lawson replied as follows to The Telegraph: “You can’t feel sympathy in this sport, and anyway, if I look back at our careers, I was his teammate in F3 and I beat him. In Euroformula, we were teammates in New Zealand, and I beat him there too.”
“And then in F1 last season, honestly, if I think about all the times he was promoted instead of me in those early years, then no.” He had his moment. Now it’s my turn. “
In these first two races, Liam Lawson’s journey seems very similar to Pierre Gasly’s in 2019: at that time, the young French driver was promoted after an excellent season with Toro Rosso, but in the first qualifying session of the year, also in Australia, he was eliminated in Q1 with the 17th fastest time, while his teammate, Max Verstappen, started from the second row.
From here, Pierre Gasly’s season at Red Bull turned into a bit of a nightmare, ending with his dismissal halfway through the season in favor of Alexander Albon, who had impressed in his debut season with Toro Rosso.
PHOTO: Oracle Red Bull Racing, Liam Lawson.
