Lawson accepts he 'won't be around' at Red Bull if he doesn't perform, but wants time

Liam Lawson accepts that he must perform to keep hold of his Red Bull Formula 1 seat, but notes that he needs time he doesn't necessarily have to get acquainted with the team's 2025 car.

The Kiwi racer qualified last for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, which Red Bull used as an opportunity to break parc ferme and kit him out with a series of changes to his RB21 - and he thus ran a different aero spec to Max Verstappen. Lawson reckoned that few of these changes worked out.

He ultimately finished 15th, moving up two positions late on when Yuki Tsunoda's front wing broke and Jack Doohan was encumbered by a 10-second penalty for nudging Isack Hadjar off the road.

Lawson says that he needs time to get a greater understanding of the RB21; asked to elaborate on time, he explained that, with no in-season testing and a triple-header on the horizon, he does not have the luxury of time behind the wheel to get used to the car.

"We knew it was going to be tough and we started from the pitlane to try something with the car, and it unfortunately just didn't work the way we wanted," Lawson said. "What was really just a hard weekend was just a bit harder today.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

"Unfortunately, I don't really have time to get used to it, but I need to figure it out quickly. I don't have time to test the car and get used to it, but we're in the season already, so each race we're losing points. That's more or less what I mean when I don't have time.

"But I'm also not stupid and I know that, obviously, I'm here to perform – and if I'm not doing that, I'm not going to be around. I'm just focused on getting used to the car as quickly as I can."

Asked where his deficit to Verstappen was, particularly over a qualifying lap, Lawson explained that the differences over a lap were generally quite slim and the key points he lagged behind were "normally just a couple of places".

He added that, in the key positions where the RB21 is at its most tempestuous, the Dutchman can get much more out of it and "be on the limit everywhere".

Lawson was defiant when asked about the idea of Red Bull conducting a swap between him and Yuki Tsunoda, which Autosport understands will be a topic of discussion at the team ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

"I've raced him for years, raced him in junior categories and beat him – and I did in F1 as well, so he can say whatever he wants," Lawson stated.

Fact check

Yuki Tsunoda, Jenzer Motorsport with Liam Lawson, MP Motorsport

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Lawson beat Tsunoda in the 2019 Euroformula Open championship, finishing second in that year's standings to Tsunoda's fourth, but the Japanese driver outscored him in that year's F3 championship and earned a move up to F2 ahead of Lawson for 2020.

Tsunoda also outscored Lawson in their 11 races together at AlphaTauri/RB, and outqualified him 10-1 (sprint qualifying not included).

Lawson also had the edge over Tsunoda in their 2020 Toyota Racing Series campaign, finishing second ahead of Franco Colapinto and his fellow Red Bull junior in the New Zealand-based winter championship.