Is Liam Lawson the F1 driver Red Bull needs? Our writers debate

Liam Lawson will race in the US Grand Prix next month after replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull’s sister Formula 1 team RB.

It won’t be the Kiwi’s first time competing in F1, but on this occasion it won’t just be as a stand-in, and his arrival is seen as a test for Red Bull to find out if it has the right man for the future.

So is Lawson the driver Red Bull needs at the moment? Our writers debate.

Only time will tell – Filip Cleeren

The honest but boring answer is that the proof is in the pudding, but I think there are certain signs that should give Red Bull some optimism about how far Lawson can go.

Every driver on the current Formula 1 grid can be fast on his or her day, but that is not what Red Bull is looking for. Daniel Ricciardo showed flashes of pace, and so did Sergio Perez, but neither was consistent enough across the board. It cost Ricciardo his chance to replace Perez, but the Mexican could still lose his seat.

Liam Lawson, Alpha Tauri AT04

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

So what Red Bull really needs is someone who can combine natural speed with the adaptability to overcome the limitations of car behavior, and the ability to deal with the pressure of fighting for wins at the front against perhaps the toughest teammate. that you would like to have in Max Verstappen.

That can be a poisoned chalice for promising talents at the start of their F1 careers, just ask Alex Albon or Pierre Gasly, but we have seen indications that Lawson is up for the challenge.

Firstly, there is the way he jumped into Ricciardo’s car at Zandvoort last year, from a wet Saturday training session. He didn’t set the world on fire that first weekend, nor could he be expected to on such short notice, but he immediately showed the steel to rise to the occasion.

His five-race cameo then crescendoed with a commendable ninth place on the tough streets of Singapore, which seems to be the weekend that most impressed Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. Then came an evaluation drive at Monza this summer with the 2022 AlphaTauri, which was reportedly another high-pressure stress test that Lawson passed with flying colors.

Combine that with the patience and maturity the 22-year-old has shown since having to step back into a reserve role, and Lawson has done everything Red Bull has asked of him so far. He appears to have the ability and mentality to continue to do so, but he will have a tough challenge ahead of him against the increasingly impressive Yuki Tsunoda, who has a big advantage after spending four years with the Anglo-Italian side .

Lawson going straight to Red Bull could have saved all the Ricciardo anxiety – Alex Kalinauckas

Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, arrives at the track

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Red Bull’s PR strategy is often so strange. Everyone in the F1 paddock knew that Singapore would be Ricciardo’s last race. Just look at how many journalists had carefully selected photos where you can see them in the background of photos of him as a way of saying, “Goodbye, good luck.”

While it is certainly a distraction for RB, who, let’s not forget, are locked in a tight battle with Haas for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship and therefore millions in prize money, it would have made more sense to make the swap with Lawson in advance have announced. and not experience the ridiculous “we won’t know until we know” charade.

But there was an even better alternative to Red Bull. It is clear that Ricciardo lost his chance of promotion to the big team in place of Perez. But immediately trading Lawson for Perez and RB and keeping his sponsors happy with Ricciardo is a much better solution than dropping the Australian.

Red Bull has now done that so it can make plans for promotion – along with certainly an external appointment, such as George Russell or Oscar Piastri – or one of Lawson or Tsunoda for 2026 if Verstappen does indeed leave. Perez has no chance of being retained as team leader as his place for 2025 is still uncertain. But weren’t those five 2023 races in which he beat Tsunoda (although lagging behind in qualifying) instead of the injured Ricciardo enough for Red Bull to know if Lawson can make it yet?

It earned Nyck de Vries enough in one Williams race in 2022 to promote him to the then AlphaTauri team for the following year. And perhaps it is the major counterproductive effect that Red Bull is now cautious about. But even if the impressively ice-cold Lawson doesn’t immediately draw level with Verstappen heading into 2026, Red Bull would at least find out sooner and it would be no different than Perez’s continued underperformance.

It didn’t really gain anything from doing what it did, it just jettisoned the wrong driver.

Watch: Why RB dropped Ricciardo for Lawson with immediate effect