Red Bull scolded “sign Carlos Sainz”, “it’s not Liam Lawson’s fault”

Red Bull have been criticised for putting Liam Lawson into their second car instead of signing Carlos Sainz.

Sainz was the key to last year’s driver market when he became available after Lewis Hamilton took his Ferrari driver.

Despite opportunities at Red Bull and Mercedes, both overlooked Sainz who instead went to Williams.

But Red Bull’s decision to internally promote Lawson after a short but impressive stint with their sister team has backfired after two races this season.

Red Bull reportedly met on Tuesday and decided to replace Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda for next weekend’s F1 Japanese Grand Prix, however this is unconfirmed.

But they should have looked elsewhere when a big opportunity arose, they have been told.

“Sainz. Sign Sainz who was on the market,” Alex Jacques said on the F1 Nation podcast.

“They had the option to do it. He is a proven grand prix winner. You know his data from when he was alongside Max Verstappen.

“He didn’t beat Verstappen and he didn’t beat Charles Leclerc often. But he’s a driver who picked up wins when it didn’t go to plan.

“When Max has contact with a driver at Turn 1, Sainz is capable of winning a grand prix.

“They got themselves in a massive tangle, and I don’t think Lawson deserves to take the brunt of what he’s doing.

“He’s an elite sportsman at the top of motor racing, and he’s qualifying last! That is really tough.”

'Incoherent' Red Bull criticised for Liam Lawson decision

Lawson has failed to get out of Q1 in either Australia or China.

The tone from team principal Christian Horner subtly shifted after the Chinese Grand Prix.

“It is uncomfortable for me,” commentator Jacques continued. “I covered his junior career. He is a straightforward guy.

“Objectively, with 11 grand prix starts, he is the least experienced and qualified to ever be put alongside Verstappen.

“He wasn’t with front-running teams in his junior career. He didn’t finish in the major places on his way through the ladder.

“It’s incredibly difficult to see why they put Liam in this position in the first place, in my opinion.

“A guy who deserves a shot in Formula 1 has been advanced to a team where you are asking a driver to fix a Rubick’s Cube of a car which Sergio Perez - the tyre whisperer, man who used to magic Force India to the podium out of thin air, and who went from the back of the grid to the win in Sakhir - could not figure out.

“Checo couldn't figure it out. Daniel Ricciardo didn’t think he’d beat Max so disappeared.

“Alex Albon is pretty good against Carlos Sainz, a grand prix winner, at the moment, isn’t he? He was fourth tenths of a second away. [Red Bull] would kill for four tenths of a second away.

“It has been incoherent as to who they put into the second car for a long time.

"Liam is taking the brunt of it. It’s not really Liam’s fault. Will they give him time? I don’t know. But it’s a tough watch.”

Laura Winter added: “I agree. We do need to start asking questions about the culture around that Red Bull second seat.

“It’s seemingly an impossible conundrum to unpick. You have a car which is swayed, built and manufactured for a four-time champion.

“The No2 seat, nothing is engineered for you. You come in as the de facto No2, and that’s it. You have to fulfil that role.

“Are the Racing Bulls faster than the Red Bull?

“Already rumours that Lawson will be replaced as early as Japan, for goodness sake. But does Yuki Tsunoda want to drive the Red Bull?

“Every driver on the grid will say ‘I can do a better job’.

“But instead of blaming drivers, as we tend to do, perhaps questions also need to be around how the team operates, and how the culture of that second seat operates.”

Red Bull have been notoriously ruthless with their patience with drivers in their two teams.

Albon, Pierre Gasly and Ricciardo are among the drivers chewed up by the opportunity who went on to have successful F1 careers.

At the end of last season, Perez lost his seat because he was unable to score points consistently leading to Red Bull conceding the constructors’ championship to McLaren.