Key mistakes that Liam Lawson must avoid to survive in Max Verstappen’s world

Liam Lawson has the daunting task of going up against F1’s best driver, Max Verstappen in 2025.

Verstappen has developed the reputation of being a teammate destroyer, seeing off Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez over the last six years. Given Lawson’s limited F1 experience, the same fate potentially awaits the Kiwi.

Based on Verstappen’s teammates over the years, stretching back to Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson will have to avoid a number of key mistakes to have a successful Red Bull career...

On-track clash leads to paranoia

Undoubtedly, Ricciardo has been Verstappen’s strongest F1 teammate to date. They spent the best part of three years together before Ricciardo’s shock decision to leave for Renault.

While Ricciardo had a slight advantage in performance, to begin with, Verstappen was growing in the ascendancy. By 2018, the tide was firmly in the Dutchman’s favour - and Ricciardo knew it.

They came to blows at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, colliding while braking into the first corner. Both drivers played a role in the incident as Verstappen moved aggressively under braking, while it can be argued there was never a gap for Ricciardo in the first place.

The clash never made things awkward between Verstappen and Ricciardo, but it led to some paranoia for the latter, ultimately resulting in his strange decision to join Renault. Despite his hefty salary at Renault and return to winning ways at McLaren, Ricciardo would live to regret his decision to leave Red Bull.

For Lawson, avoiding a clash with Verstappen will be imperative to having a successful Red Bull career.

Arguing with your tech chief

Gasly was handed the call-up to Red Bull following Ricciardo’s shock exit for 2019. The Frenchman’s 12-race stint was unsuccessful as he lagged well behind Verstappen.

Putting his on-track struggles aside, Gasly did himself no favours away from it. It was widely speculated that Gasly voiced his concerns and displeasure about the handling of the RB15 and how it was set up.

Speaking on the Last Lap podcast in 2022, former Red Bull engineer Dan Drury discussed Gasly’s time at the team and his alleged argument with design guru Adrian Newey.

He said: “Pierre’s problem was he started to doubt himself in his own head. Like we’re seeing with Ricciardo [at McLaren] once you start doing that you’re on a downward spiral.

“There was one point, where again, I wasn’t there so I can’t confirm or deny but apparently Pierre got quite vocal with Adrian [Newey] over the setup of the car and it became a bit of a shouting match in the garage and then once that happened, in front of Helmut Marko, it was back to the sister team you go.”

While the argument with Newey has never been factually proven, Helmut Marko hinted that Gasly voiced his frustrations towards Newey.

Marko said, as quoted by GP Blog: “We told Gasly that he should use Verstappen’s setup. He has to adapt it to his driving style. He should focus on driving and not constantly tell Mr. Newey how to build the car for him.”

While Red Bull will be without Newey for Lawson’s first year with the team, keeping your technical staff on your side and believing in you will be imperative, even if the car is challenging to drive at times.

“They race me so hard”

Albon’s only full season as a Red Bull driver can be summed up by the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. Albon destroyed two sets of tyres due to lock-ups in the race before a clumsy incident with Daniil Kvyat.

Albon was also ridiculed for a message over team radio after he could not overtake Gasly. With Gasly putting up a stern defence, Albon complained to Red Bull: “They race me so hard”.

It was a clear suggestion that Albon wasn’t quite cut out to be a Red Bull driver. Lawson needs to ensure that he’s not afraid to remain robust and aggressive on track.

So far, at least, Lawson has shown he’s prepared to go head-to-head with some of the biggest names in F1, such as Fernando Alonso. Showing that grit on-track will stand Lawson in good stead even if he lacks the ultimate pace relative to Verstappen.

False title dreams

A strong start to the 2023 season proved to be Perez’s ultimate undoing. After winning two of the opening four races, Perez thought he was finally in title contention against Verstappen.

After his win in Azerbaijan, Perez declared: “I am definitely in the fight for the title, not just because of Baku, I believe I can be very good anywhere this season and now I am just thinking of Miami.

“There are a lot of races coming up and we must make sure we are on it.”

That race would end up being Perez’s final victory in F1 and was soon followed by a worrying dip in form. While Perez secured P2 in the drivers’ championship, handing Red Bull their first-ever 1-2 finish, regular Q1/Q2 exits were common for Perez.

2024 saw a repeat of Perez’s mid-season, but this time, there was no revival by the end of the year, forcing Red Bull to replace him with Lawson. Lawson will believe he can beat Verstappen and win the F1 world championship, but unlike Perez, he needs to manage expectations and not get carried away in 2025.

It goes without saying that on-track performance and being as close to Verstappen as possible will determine how long Lawson is at Red Bull, but avoiding the mistakes made by his predecessors should give him the best chance of staying with the team for multiple seasons.