Red Bull's Helmut Marko pulls back the curtain on factors behind Liam Lawson's lackluster F2 run

Top advisor for team Red Bull, Helmut Marko, recently talked about the disadvantage that Liam Lawson was put at during his F2 season. Lawson, who was teamed up with Logan Sargeant in 2022 for the Carlin team had an older engine compared to the American.

Marko, speaking with German publication RTL, said that Sargeant was put at a certain advantage after his confirmed promotion to Formula 1. He also stressed that despite that, Lawson was relentless against his teammate (via X):

"In F2 sometimes there are relatively large engine differences. When it was decided his teammate (Sargeant) was going to F1, he suddenly got a new engine and from that point on, depending on the track he was faster on straights by 3-4 tenths but knowing there was nothing you could do about it, he did not give up."

Atlhough Lawson was saddled with an older engine compared to his teammate, the Kiwi driver beat him by one point in the overall standings. Lawson scored four wins and ten podiums in the 2022 season as compared to Sargeant, who only scored two wins and four podiums. Despite this, the American driver was able to score 148 points, taking fourth place in the F2 drivers' championship. Lawson clinched the third place with 149 points.

Sargeant would be signed on to the Williams team for the 2023 season and part of the 2024 season, before being replaced by Franco Colapinto.

Liam Lawson also joined F1 in 2023, racing five races for Scuderia AlphaTauri and then re-joining the team in 2024 for six races, after he replaced Daniel Ricciardo both times. During his time in F1 so far, Lawson has scored six points, and finished 20th and 21st in the drivers' standings in the two years.

For 2025, Lawson will be joining Red Bull Racing alongside four-time world champion, Max Verstappen, while Sargeant will not be returning to the grid next year.

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Helmut Marko sets expectations for Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson talks to Max Verstappen prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit- Source: Getty

Helmut Marko has been part of the Red Bull since 2005, and has been a witness to Max Verstappen's career in Formula 1. He has painted a clear picture in terms of expectations for Liam Lawson who will be joining the Milton Keyes-based team.

Speaking to RTL, Marko has made a few things clear in terms of what Lawson should expect going into the new season as well as what he expects from the Kiwi driver (via PlanetF1).

"You have to accept that he is the best and see how far you can get. But you can’t go in there thinking: ‘I am going to beat him.' That went wrong with all his team-mates.”

Setting firm expectations he said:

"He should be within three tenths of Max in both in qualifying and in the race."

Red Bull Racing lost out to McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors' standings last year, finishing third.