Red Bull consider immediate driver swap to bring in ’embarrassing’ rookie who crashed out on formation lap
Red Bull love changing drivers, but doing so after just two races would be a new record. However, according to the man at the forefront of those decisions, it’s not off the cards. Marko has admitted Lawson is already in troubleGetty That could be good news for Hadjar who was lapping Shanghai for the first timeGetty The British-Austrian team saw another poor performance from their No.2 driver at the Chinese Grand Prix, with Liam Lawson coming home in 15th, before three disqualifications put him 12th, while teammate Max Verstappen was fourth. In the opener the story was similar, with Lawson again 15th in Australia, although he was unclassified after a late spin. The New Zealander was promoted from sister team Racing Bulls during the offseason as team principal and CEO Christian Horner reportedly paid £12million to get Sergio Perez out of his car. Yet the early signs aren’t good for Lawson, and Red Bull advisor and head of driver development Helmut Marko dropped a bomb post-race. “This is not what we expected, but we will discuss it calmly,” he told Sky Germany when discussing Lawson. “Now, let’s look at the positive side with Racing Bulls. [Isack] Hadjar, in only his second race, had never been on this track before and put down incredible times without making any mistakes. “So, shadows and sunshine are very close together [there’s good and bad], but we’ll see what happens. “It’s also not ruled out yet that there could be a driver change.” Lawson, on his part, said his issues are down to getting his tyres in the right window, a key factor which seems to be more decisive in 2025 than ever before. “It’s just really tough, honestly,” he said post-race. “I think the window’s really small – I mean, that’s known – but honestly, it’s not an excuse.” The walls are quickly closing in on LawsonGetty But it seems like the more experiences Tsunoda has no chance of replacing himGetty Asked what he needs to improve, he said: “It’s just time. Unfortunately, I don’t really have time.” Marko’s praise of Hadjar and suggestion that he could be promoted marks an incredible turnaround in just seven days. The Frenchman spun out of his Formula 1 debut in Australia on the formation lap before the race had even started. Hadjar, last season’s Formula 2 runner-up, left his helmet on as he walked back to the garage and appeared to be crying before being embraced by Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony. Marko, who is well known to go for the stick rather than the carrot, called the scenes ‘embarrassing’ at the time and added in China: “You have to show a certain toughness, otherwise, a competitor will soon take advantage of it.” Hadjar finished 14th in China, ahead of Lawson and Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda in 19th – but moved up three places when Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were disqualified. However, in Saturday’s sprint, it was Tsunoda who was the most impressive of the four Red Bull-owned drivers, finishing sixth. Yet it seems the Japanese star will again be overlooked when it comes to the Red Bull senior squad, with Marko earlier saying he thinks Hadjar could have a higher ceiling. When talking about F1’s new rookies ahead of the season, he said of the Frenchman: “Hadjar lost the (F2) championship by just four or five points. “Our data analysts calculated that he lost around 80 points due to technical glitches and other issues. “So he’s incredibly fast. I’d say that if he continues to develop well and learn to control his emotions, he also has the potential for the A level.” PosDriverCarLapsTime/retiredPts1Oscar PiastriMcLaren 561:30:55.026252Lando NorrisMcLaren 56+9.748s183George RussellMercedes56+11.097s154Max VerstappenRed Bull 56+16.656s125Esteban OconHaas56+49.969s106Kimi AntonelliMercedes56+53.748s87Alexander AlbonWilliams56+56.321s68Oliver BearmanHaas56+61.303s49Lance StrollAston Martin56+70.204s210Carlos SainzWilliams56+76.387s111Isack HadjarRacing Bulls56+78.875s012Liam LawsonRed Bull56+81.147s013Jack DoohanAlpine56+88.401s014Gabriel BortoletoKick Sauber55+1 lap015Nico HulkenbergKick Sauber55+1 lap016Yuki TsunodaRacing Bulls55+1 lap0NCFernando AlonsoAston Martin4DNF0DSQCharles LeclercFerrariDSQLewis HamiltonFerrariDSQPierre GaslyAlpine
Red Bull love changing drivers, but doing so after just two races would be a new record.
However, according to the man at the forefront of those decisions, it’s not off the cards.
The British-Austrian team saw another poor performance from their No.2 driver at the Chinese Grand Prix, with Liam Lawson coming home in 15th, before three disqualifications put him 12th, while teammate Max Verstappen was fourth.
In the opener the story was similar, with Lawson again 15th in Australia, although he was unclassified after a late spin.
The New Zealander was promoted from sister team Racing Bulls during the offseason as team principal and CEO Christian Horner reportedly paid £12million to get Sergio Perez out of his car.
Yet the early signs aren’t good for Lawson, and Red Bull advisor and head of driver development Helmut Marko dropped a bomb post-race.
“This is not what we expected, but we will discuss it calmly,” he told Sky Germany when discussing Lawson.
“Now, let’s look at the positive side with Racing Bulls. [Isack] Hadjar, in only his second race, had never been on this track before and put down incredible times without making any mistakes.
“So, shadows and sunshine are very close together [there’s good and bad], but we’ll see what happens.
“It’s also not ruled out yet that there could be a driver change.”
Lawson, on his part, said his issues are down to getting his tyres in the right window, a key factor which seems to be more decisive in 2025 than ever before.
“It’s just really tough, honestly,” he said post-race. “I think the window’s really small – I mean, that’s known – but honestly, it’s not an excuse.”
Asked what he needs to improve, he said: “It’s just time. Unfortunately, I don’t really have time.”
Marko’s praise of Hadjar and suggestion that he could be promoted marks an incredible turnaround in just seven days.
The Frenchman spun out of his Formula 1 debut in Australia on the formation lap before the race had even started.
Hadjar, last season’s Formula 2 runner-up, left his helmet on as he walked back to the garage and appeared to be crying before being embraced by Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony.
Marko, who is well known to go for the stick rather than the carrot, called the scenes ‘embarrassing’ at the time and added in China: “You have to show a certain toughness, otherwise, a competitor will soon take advantage of it.”
Hadjar finished 14th in China, ahead of Lawson and Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda in 19th – but moved up three places when Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were disqualified.
However, in Saturday’s sprint, it was Tsunoda who was the most impressive of the four Red Bull-owned drivers, finishing sixth.
Yet it seems the Japanese star will again be overlooked when it comes to the Red Bull senior squad, with Marko earlier saying he thinks Hadjar could have a higher ceiling.
When talking about F1’s new rookies ahead of the season, he said of the Frenchman: “Hadjar lost the (F2) championship by just four or five points.
“Our data analysts calculated that he lost around 80 points due to technical glitches and other issues.
“So he’s incredibly fast. I’d say that if he continues to develop well and learn to control his emotions, he also has the potential for the A level.”
Pos Driver Car Laps Time/retired Pts 1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 56 1:30:55.026 25 2 Lando Norris McLaren 56 +9.748s 18 3 George Russell Mercedes 56 +11.097s 15 4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 56 +16.656s 12 5 Esteban Ocon Haas 56 +49.969s 10 6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 56 +53.748s 8 7 Alexander Albon Williams 56 +56.321s 6 8 Oliver Bearman Haas 56 +61.303s 4 9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 56 +70.204s 2 10 Carlos Sainz Williams 56 +76.387s 1 11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 56 +78.875s 0 12 Liam Lawson Red Bull 56 +81.147s 0 13 Jack Doohan Alpine 56 +88.401s 0 14 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber 55 +1 lap 0 15 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber 55 +1 lap 0 16 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 55 +1 lap 0 NC Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 4 DNF 0 DSQ Charles Leclerc Ferrari DSQ Lewis Hamilton Ferrari DSQ Pierre Gasly Alpine
