Liam Lawson’s impressive weekend at COTA has served as a warning shot across the bows of Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver’s career at Red Bull has been plagued by speculation but, following the organisation’s decision to chop Daniel Ricciardo from its line-up, the focus is now firmly on Sergio Perez and what he brings to the team. After months of speculation, Lawson was dropped into Ricciardo’s seat as Red Bull finally decided the Australian driver was not ever going to reach the level of performance they wanted to see to merit an F1 return.
Much has been made this year about the organisation’s desire, particularly amongst shareholders, to see the VCARB squad return to its Toro Rosso roots as a proving ground for junior drivers – spelling the end for the 35-year-old Ricciardo. With Ricciardo gone, all eyes were on Lawson for his first race back in F1 in a year. Whilst it’s technically accurate to say “back in F1”, Lawson is very much a rookie – five races as a stand-in last year is a driver barely getting their feet wet – and COTA marked his first race as a ‘permanent’ driver, even if it is only for six races (for now).
Given the “soft landing”, to use Christian Horner’s words, that Lawson had as he picked up a grid penalty before even stepping into the car, it was hardly surprising that Lawson duly produced a combative and feisty drive in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix – to the point where his racing tactics annoyed the veteran Fernando .