Liam Lawson reveals plan to call former Red Bull driver ahead of Max Verstappen challenge

Liam Lawson plans to pick the brains of former Red Bull F1 driver Alex Albon ahead of his debut with the team in 2025.

On Thursday, Red Bull announced Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate for the 2025 F1 season.

Lawson has only competed in 11 grands prix, making him the least experienced driver ever to join Red Bull.

However, the Kiwi’s quick adaptation to life in F1 - and strong pace despite his little experience relative to Yuki Tsunoda - ultimately meant he got the nod.

Lawson will have an incredibly tough task in his first full season in F1, partnering Verstappen.

Verstappen has only been out-qualified 11 times since the start of 2019, dismantling Pierre Gasly, Albon and Sergio Perez during this time.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Lawson admitted he will call Albon to get some advice ahead of his Red Bull debut.

“When we were in DTM he probably got sick of me asking all the questions, but I did ask him a lot of questions about Red Bull and what it was like in the team and how the car was,” Lawson said.

“I know that car was different back then, but the characteristics are the same and I’ve driven it in the simulator and it is aggressive and hard to drive. He told me it was all about confidence and going up against Max that’s what it takes.

“I think he’ll be somebody that I contact again knowing that, because this is all new, I’ll be on the phone to Alex in the next couple of weeks because for sure to get more info.”

Verstappen’s ‘unique driving style’

One thing Lawson will have to adapt to is the aggressive handling of the Red Bull car - and how it lends into Verstappen’s driving style.

Last year, Albon provided some insight into how “sharp” the front-end of the Red Bull typically is and how Verstappen is able to deal with it.

The Thai driver told the High Performance Podcast: “Everyone has a driving style, I would say my driving style is a bit more on the smooth side, but I like a car that has a good front-end, so quite sharp, quite direct. Max does too, but his level of sharp and direct is a whole different level – it’s eye-wateringly sharp.

“To give people kind of maybe an explanation of what that might feel like, if you bump up the sensitivity [on a computer game] completely to the max and you move that mouse and it’s just darting across the screen everywhere, that’s kind of how it feels. It becomes so sharp that it makes you a little bit tense.”