Christian Horner’s advice to Liam Lawson after “too slow” confession

Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner insists Liam Lawson will be given time to perform alongside Max Verstappen.

Despite only contesting 11 grands prix with Red Bull’s sister team in F1, Lawson was promoted to become Verstappen’s latest teammate as a replacement for Sergio Perez, who was dropped at the end of an abysmal 2024 season.

The 22-year-old New Zealander ended Friday practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix only 17th out of the 19 drivers who set times.

Lawson’s quickest time in FP2 was over half a second slower than Verstappen’s, while he also trailed the Dutchman by a sizeable gap in the opening session, having survived an early kiss with the wall at Turn 9.

Reflecting on the first fay of practice, Lawson admitted he was “just too slow”.

Horner, who referred to Lawson as “still a rookie”, is confident he can get up to speed once he finds his feet at Red Bull.

“Liam, it’s a big step up, being Max’s teammate is probably the toughest job in Formula 1, but he’s got the mental attitude and strength of character to deal with that,” Horner told Sky Sports.

“He’s not been here before. I think he’s the only driver on the grid that hasn’t done some laps around this circuit. He’s finding his feet and he’s giving very good feedback. He’s settling in nicely, so we’ll see over the next few races.”

Asked what advice Red Bull has been giving Lawson, Horner replied: “I think the main thing is just focus on himself.

“Almost ignore what’s going on with the other car, just focus on himself, on working with his engineers and extracting the best that he can.

“He’s got a steep learning curve but everything that we’ve seen in the junior formula and the testing that he’s done with us, he’s got the ability to take that on and grow. We’ve just got to give him time.”

Read more: Long run data analysis establishes McLaren and Ferrari pecking order in Australia

Red Bull seeking improvements

Both Verstappen and Lawson indicated after Friday’s running that Red Bull have plenty of work to do overnight to improve the team’s chances heading into the first qualifying session of the season.

Horner echoed his driver’s verdicts, adding: “You get a trend, you can see cars that look competitive. You can see some surprises in there. It’s a unique little circuit, this one.

“There’s some areas we need to improve on. The timesheet isn't a true representation of where everyone is at the moment, it's an indication.

“With the prospect of rain, you have the dilemma on whether you focus on Sunday set-up or one-lap performance."