Christian Horner shares honest opinion on why Liam Lawson was hired by Red Bull

Red Bull boss Christian Horner feels that one of the reasons why Liam Lawson has been signed is because of the early indicators where the Kiwi showed real resilience and strength of character. Lawson would be making his debut with the senior team after what has been a haphazard start to his F1 career.

He was put into the car in AlphaTauri as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, who was sidelined due to an injury. In 2024 as well, he was once again used as a replacement for the Australian and given a limited number of races where he had to prove himself.

In the end, Liam Lawson did jump the line and beat Yuki Tsunoda to take over the Red Bull seat after Sergio Perez was released at the end of the 2024 F1 season. While all of this is fine, questions have been raised on whether the Kiwi can get the job done.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner clarified that the team knew the challenge that the Kiwi had to face as he would team up with Max Verstappen. But the kind of resilience and performance that he'd shown already made him the perfect candidate. Talking about Liam Lawson to media, including RacingNews365, Horner said:

"He's shown real resilience and strength of character with the opportunity he's been provided to have to turn up, get on with it and deliver, and he's done that. The plan, initially, wasn't for that to be accelerated [for this year]. Circumstances have been dictated, with Checo, unfortunately, not having a great season."

He added:

"But we believe, with where Liam is at, the trajectory that he's on, he will only improve. And he drives the car in a similar fashion to Max. He doesn't shy away from having a very positive front end in the car, so in terms of driving characteristics, it will be easier for the cars to run more closely together in set-up."

---

Red Bull trying not to put pressure on Liam Lawson

Talking about the added pressure of being a Max Verstappen teammate, team boss Christian Horner said that the team was trying not to put too much pressure on the Kiwi. Talking about the driver at the recently concluded Autosports Awards, Horner said that the team was trying to gently ease him into the role.

"We’ve tried very hard not to put pressure on him so far and he’s basically easing his way in. He’s in the US at the moment. He will be back in the simulator again next week. So he’s doing a decent job and we’re just trying to ease him in quite gently," he said (via Crash.net).

Red Bull will be trialing what would be the fourth different Max Verstappen teammate since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018. None of the options from Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez were able to fulfill the role of being a decent number 2 to the Dutch driver. All eyes would be on Lawson this season to see what he can do.