Time is racing against New Zealand’s Liam Lawson as he battles to master his Red Bull machine ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. Struggling to extract optimum performance from his RB21, Lawson is faced with the daunting prospect of starting from the tail end of the grid for Sunday’s race.
Lawson’s stint with Red Bull got off to a rocky start as he crashed in the season opener in Melbourne, failing to complete his debut race. The young driver’s hopes of rebounding in Shanghai were dashed when he was ousted in the first session of the Sprint Qualifying. Despite his best efforts to turn things around, Lawson’s struggles persisted. He managed a 14th place finish in Saturday’s Sprint and found himself at the bottom of the pack during the GP qualifying session.
The 23-year-old Kiwi didn’t mince words when evaluating his own performance. In a candid conversation with Sky Sports F1, Lawson admitted, “It’s just really tough. The window’s really small; I mean that’s known, but honestly, it’s not an excuse. It was a messy session and had we have not dealt with traffic and stuff like that, it might have been okay. But to be honest, it’s still not good enough to be having those issues and that’s the reason that we get knocked out.”
Lawson, who stepped into Sergio Perez’s shoes in 2025, added, “To drive a Formula 1 car it takes 100% confidence in what you’re doing and it’s not that I don’t feel confident, but the window is so small that right now I just seem to miss it.”
Reflecting on his struggles, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner acknowledged, “Well, I mean, it’s been a tough day in the office for him today. So, we’ll have a good look at it, and go through it, and obviously try and give him the best car we can for tomorrow.” Horner, however, steered clear of any comparisons between Lawson and Perez, whom Lawson replaced after a lacklustre performance last season.
The 23-year-old Lawson’s struggles are a stark reminder of the pressures and challenges that come with driving for a top-tier team like Red Bull. The Milton Keynes-based team will have to grapple with the reality of their second driver yet again languishing in the lower ranks during the race. As Lawson fights against time to get a grip on his RB21, the question remains: Will he be able to rise to the occasion and deliver a performance worthy of his Red Bull cockpit? Only time will tell.
