Liam Lawson is on the hot seat following his disappointing performance in China. The New Zealander ended up in the twentieth spot in both the sprint qualification and the qualification. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is turning up the pressure and is already scrutinizing two potential replacements.
Helmut Marko sends a clear message to the new Red Bull driver. “We’re going to analyze the entire weekend, and then we’ll see what we’re going to do,” the Austrian tells Viaplay. “He said he couldn’t get the tires to heat up evenly. We need to analyze that further.”
Pleasant Surprise
In a conversation with ServusTV, Marko discusses two possible replacements for Liam Lawson. He sings the praises of rookie Isack Hadjar, who has replaced Lawson at Racing Bulls. “Looking at our other team, it was incredibly impressive what Isack Hadjar showed. He was flawless, and he didn’t even know the circuit. He was a pleasant surprise.” The Frenchman qualified fifteenth for the sprint race – he put himself forward for his teammate, but lost valuable time and missed the chance for a second run in Q2 – and eventually finished thirteenth. Tomorrow he will start the race from the seventh position.
Marko also has a critical note for Yuki Tsunoda, who has to tolerate Hadjar two places ahead of him. “Yuki is right behind him, but Yuki is in his fifth season, while Isack is completely new and doesn’t know the circuit. And then he puts down such a time.”
However, it seems unlikely that one inexperienced driver will replace another. In the sprint race, Tsunoda still scored three points with a sixth place. Tomorrow, both drivers will have the chance to prove themselves under the watchful eye of Marko. “I think points for both drivers are possible. After that unfortunate race in Melbourne, with Isack’s early crash, and the wrong strategy with Yuki, hopefully, they can make up for it here. Yuki could have finished fourth or fifth there.”
