Two of Liam Lawson’s rivals on the grid have first-hand experience of getting the boot from Red Bull.
Alexander Albon, who spent a year and a half at the team before being replaced, said Red Bull’s decision to drop Lawson after just two rounds was “tough on Liam.”
Lawson failed to score in either of his first two grands prix in a Red Bull. “He has had a tough few races, but it does take time,” said Albon, who spent a year as a reserve driver for the team after losing his seat at the end of 2020, then returned to race for Williams.
Albon believes more people appreciate the Red Bull has particularly unusual handling traits now compared to his difficult season alongside Max Verstappen five years ago.
“Now it seems [there’s] more understanding that it’s not an easy car to drive,” he told the official F1 channel. “When I was first in it, it felt like that.”
While Lawson started just 11 races for Red Bull’s other team before his promotion at the beginning of the year, Albon had only done one more when he got his chance. However he found the handling characteristics of the cars produced by Red Bull’s two teams were extremely different.
“From my experience, it’s quite differently-balanced to the [Racing Bulls] car, more than other cars. So when the drivers change from [Racing Bulls] to Red Bull, one car’s quite front-limited and one’s quite rear-limited. So you get this bigger swing than even a Williams to a Red Bull or from a [Racing Bulls] to a Williams.”
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The Racing Bulls chassis proved competitive over the opening races. Yuki Tsunoda, who has taken Lawson’s place at Red Bull, qualified fifth for the season-opener at Melbourne. Albon believes Lawson could rebound quickly back at his former team.
“I think there’s a huge possibility for Liam to bounce back and be immediately strong this weekend,” he said. “There’s a chance for Yuki to prove to everyone that he can also be capable in a Red Bull car.
“For Liam, he’s going back to a team that he knows, that he had great results with, a balance that I imagine he’s a bit more comfortable with in a car that he’s more used to.”
“What’s nice to see is Yuki is up for the challenge more than anything,” Albon added. “I think his attitude is the right attitude to have. I think he’s got to go into it believing he can do it.”
Like Lawson, Pierre Gasly returned to Red Bull’s second team when they dropped him in the middle of 2019 after just 12 starts. He raced alongside Tsunoda for three seasons and spoke to his former team mate after the news broke of his promotion to Red Bull.
“We spoke on the phone [about] obviously the way that I was also given this opportunity, just in terms of what didn’t quite work out and things that could have been different,” Gasly explained.
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Although Gasly believes Tsunoda is quick enough to perform well at Red Bull, he said that is no guarantee he will succeed there.
“He’s got the experience, he’s got the speed,” said Gasly. “I’ve always backed him up. I’ve raced against him and with him for two years, I’ve seen his raw speed, I’ve seen what he was capable of doing already back at the time. Back in 2021, all these years I’ve always said he is an extremely fast driver.
“So he’s got the speed, I think he’s got a strong character. Does it mean it’s going to be successful in Red Bull Racing? No. Can he be successful in Red Bull Racing? Yes. But it’s slightly more complicated than that.
“I just wish him the best. I’ve shared my thoughts and my experience from my time there. Time will tell, but I think he’s definitely a very strong driver. And in Formula 1 these days, you’ve got many strong drivers on the grid, so it’s not all down to your speed. There’s slightly more to it, but hopefully he can make the best out of this opportunity.”
Gasly said Tsunoda has clearly matured since his first season in F1 four years ago when he showed speed but also was involved in a few collisions and often sounded agitated on his radio. “He always had the raw speed,” said Gasly. “It was a little bit too hectic behind the wheel at times and on the radio.
“I think in that sense he’s matured enough in minimising the mistakes. It’s a fine line between pushing right at the limit or over-pushing slightly too much, which can be quite costly in Formula 1. I think [he’s] tuned that. Looking at the past few seasons, I think he’s been putting in very strong performances.”
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