Former Haas Formula 1 boss Gunter Steiner believes Liam Lawson has got off to a disastrous start to the 2025 season as he couldn’t handle the pressure of being a Red Bull driver.
Lawson struggled so hard with Australian and China’s RB21 that Red Bull made the dramatic decision to replace him with Yuki Tsunoda for the rest of the season.
The Energy Drink Giants had high hopes from the Kiwi when they made 11 appearances in Alpha Touri/RB in 2023/24, but finished 19th in the Australian season opening and crashed from the main race in wet.
With Lawson making little progress in China, he set the slowest time in both qualifying sessions and finished far 12th in the race, leading the management to conclude that he needed to spend more time with the Race Bulls.
The RB21 has proven to be a very difficult car to drive, but the 23-year-old was second-later behind Melbourne qualifying teammate Max Verstappen, 0.75 seconds behind Melbourne’s first quarter Dutchman.
Steiner believes Lawson is not performing in the opening two rounds of the season. Because after joining Red Bull, he put too much pressure on himself, citing his previous F1 record in the middle as evidence that he could produce solid results.
“If Liam Lawson consistently goes to the second or sometimes the third quarter (that’s going to be a different story), Steiner told the Red Flagspodcast. “It’s just three qualifications, but he never did it from Q1. And the other guy (Verstappen) is always in the top four. That’s weird.
“He can’t beat (Verstappen). That’s completely understandable, but he’s the second slowest.
“When Checo was there last year, when he took a half-second rest, we were all devastated.
He added: “I think it’s a Liam Lawson problem. If you’re half a second slower than your teammate, you’re already much slower, but if you’re past the seconds, that’s a (big) difference.
“When Liam Lawson put in the Racing Bulls, he did a good job, so I don’t know what’s at the root of the problem. He did a great job.
“But going there (Red Bull), he can’t do it. Maybe he put too much pressure on himself. Maybe what it is – too much pressure.”
Lawson had never raced at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit before 2025, but his only experience at the Shanghai International Circuit took place in the 2018 Asian F3 Campaign.
Furthermore, although the Australian Grand Prix was heavily affected by the rain, he ran in a sprint format over the Chinese weekend, limiting the driver to a single practice session on Friday.
Steiner believes Red Bull should have waited until the Japanese Grand Prix before making a decision.
“He never raced in Australia, never raced in China, but he sent him to Japan,” Steiner said.
“He knows the race track, at least he knows how good he is. There’s no excuse anymore. Or it’s unknown. He knows Suzuka. He drove in Super Formula, a very fast car.
“If he can do it, at least he has hope. If he doesn’t accomplish it in Japan, it’s time for it to change.”
High expectations from the horned horned
After Red Bull decided to cancel Sergio Perez’s contract late last year, it faced a choice between Lawson and Tsunoda in 2025 due to poor results.
Lawson initially nodded despite his limited experience in Formula 1, but Red Bull now decides to give Tsunoda a chance to the flagship team.
Steiner believes that Tsunoda will be able to get a quick pace at Red Bull and was impressed by how mature he has become a driver after a clumsy start to his 2021 Grand Prix career.
“I think he’ll bring that into the third quarter,” Steiner said of the Zonoder. “Now Yuki is doing good things. He is doing very good things in my opinion.
“Yuki was a bit confused at first, to say the least, but now I think he’s putting his actions together. He’s quick and consistent. There was always a problem in the final race. In Australia and China, there was a problem with strategy, and in China the wings were broken.
“Then you’ll also find out how good Zonodah is for Red Bull. At this point, he doesn’t look like he’ll be in Red Bull next year, but if he’s doing a good job there next year, he might be there. Give him a chance.”