Horner defends "too slow" Lawson after tough Australian GP practice

Liam Lawson’s maiden grand prix weekend with Red Bull got off to a shaky start as he closed out Friday’s second practice session 17th fastest and over half a second slower than team-mate Max Verstappen on the same soft tyre compound.

“Comfortable, just too slow,” said Lawson to Sky Sports F1. “We obviously have a lot of work to do overnight.”

In an FP1 session interrupted by Oliver Bearman crashing his Haas, Lawson was 16th fastest while Verstappen was fifth, over seven tenths of a second faster. Both Red Bull drivers struggled with a lack of grip rather than balance as the RB21, despite a substantial upgrade including a new floor, couldn’t ‘switch on’ all four tyres, particularly in the first and final sectors.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was quick to point out that Lawson lacks specific track experience, since his time in F2 pre-dated that championship’s arrival on the Australian GP support programme in 2023. In contrast, Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar – who raced here in F2 in ’23 and ’24 – was sixth fastest in FP2 and just two tenths off team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

“Liam, it’s a big step up,” Horner told Sky Sports F1. “Being Max’s team-mate is probably the toughest job in Formula 1. But he’s got the mental aptitude and strength of character to deal with that.

“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. But he’s finding his feet and giving some very good feedback, he’s settling in nicely. We’ll see over the next few races.”

Perhaps of most concern to Lawson and Red Bull is that the reasons for his performance deficit aren’t immediately obvious – plus the gap would probably have been larger if Verstappen had managed to get a clear lap during his qualifying simulations.

“I think if we knew that we’d know how to fix it as well,” said Lawson.

“The balance wasn’t completely out,” added Verstappen. “No massive or major problems, just somehow the grip wasn’t coming alive.

“That means we’re not really up there at the moment.”