"Thought Red Bull got rid of Sergio Perez": Fans react as Liam Lawson has a shocking qualifying session at the F1 Australian GP

Fans reacted as Red Bull's second driver Liam Lawson was eliminated from qualifying after the first session of the 2025 season-opening F1 Australian Grand Prix. He was pushed to the bottom five while his teammate Max Verstappen was clear with a P3 on the chart.

As the 2025 season kicked off, teams battled out in the qualifying session. While McLaren seemed to have the lead in Q1, Red Bull's domination was crushed as both drivers struggled to set the fastest lap. Although Verstappen was considerably close, his new teammate, Liam Lawson, struggled to keep close to his pace.

During his final hot lap, he was struggling with the car and locked up in the final sector, having to abandon his lap. This sent him to the back of the grid within the bottom five, eliminating him from Q1.

Social media users found it quite hilarious considering he was picked as Sergio Perez's replacement, who had his contract terminated because of his subpar performances. Many compared him to the Mexican, like this one user said:

"Thought Red Bull got rid of Perez."

"That was an all time bad lap," wrote another user.

"Can't defend that one. What a horrible lap that was," a fan criticized.

Some fans also mentioned that VCARB's Yuki Tsunoda should have been in the seat instead. The Japanese have been part of the Red Bull Racing family since 2021 but never had the opportunity to drive for the parent team. Interestingly enough, he made it to Q2.

"Not good. Should have been Yuki imo," wrote a fan.

"That seat was for Yuki," another comment read.

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Setup issues could have hampered Liam Lawson's Red Bull debut qualifying

Earlier today, Red Bull confirmed that there were issues with Liam Lawson's car, particularly the power unit and the turbo. This made him sit out most of the third practice session, as his car was being fixed by the mechanics.

Discussing how close the grid would be during qualifying, the team's advisor Helmut Marko suggested that it would be rather close.

"It’s going to be incredibly close. I believe at the front, it will come down to mere hundredths of a second," Marko said. "But if you add up the best sector times, then Lando Norris has almost a tenth of a second advantage. The rest, however, are separated by just hundredths."

At the same time, however, he was early to predict that Liam Lawson would face issues because he was reliant on his teammate Max Verstappen's setup.

"For Lawson, though, it’s extremely difficult because he hasn’t been able to test the changes we made to the car," Marko continued. "He’ll have to rely entirely on Max’s setup."

Considering Red Bull's current performance, Max Verstappen seems to have a hold on challenging the top three runners and perhaps run for a podium.