Liam Lawson has the daunting activity of going up towards F1’s finest driver, Max Verstappen in 2025.
Verstappen has developed the fame of being a teammate destroyer, seeing off Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez during the last six years. Given Lawson’s restricted F1 expertise, the identical destiny probably awaits the Kiwi.
Primarily based on Verstappen’s teammates over time, stretching again to Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson should keep away from various key errors to have a profitable Purple Bull profession…
On-track conflict results in paranoia
Undoubtedly, Ricciardo has been Verstappen’s strongest F1 teammate up to now. They spent one of the best a part of three years collectively earlier than Ricciardo’s shock resolution to go away for Renault.
Whereas Ricciardo had a slight benefit in efficiency, to start with, Verstappen was rising within the ascendancy. By 2018, the tide was firmly within the Dutchman’s favour – and Ricciardo knew it.
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen on monitor in Baku 2018
They got here to blows on the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, colliding whereas braking into the primary nook. Each drivers performed a task within the incident as Verstappen moved aggressively underneath braking, whereas it may be argued there was by no means a niche for Ricciardo within the first place.
The conflict by no means made issues awkward between Verstappen and Ricciardo, nevertheless it led to some paranoia for the latter, in the end leading to his unusual resolution to affix Renault. Regardless of his hefty wage at Renault and return to successful methods at McLaren, Ricciardo would reside to remorse his resolution to go away Purple Bull.
For Lawson, avoiding a conflict with Verstappen can be crucial to having a profitable Purple Bull profession.
Arguing together with your tech chief
Gasly was handed the call-up to Purple Bull following Ricciardo’s shock exit for 2019. The Frenchman’s 12-race stint was unsuccessful as he lagged properly behind Verstappen.
Placing his on-track struggles apart, Gasly did himself no favours away from it. It was extensively speculated that Gasly voiced his considerations and displeasure concerning the dealing with of the RB15 and the way it was arrange.
Talking on the Final Lap podcast in 2022, former Purple Bull engineer Dan Drury mentioned Gasly’s time on the staff and his alleged argument with design guru Adrian Newey.
He mentioned: “Pierre’s downside was he began to doubt himself in his personal head. Like we’re seeing with Ricciardo [at McLaren] when you begin doing that you simply’re on a downward spiral.
“There was one level, the place once more, I wasn’t there so I can’t verify or deny however apparently Pierre bought fairly vocal with Adrian [Newey] over the setup of the automobile and it turned a little bit of a shouting match within the storage after which as soon as that occurred, in entrance of Helmut Marko, it was again to the sister staff you go.”
Whereas the argument with Newey has by no means been factually confirmed, Helmut Marko hinted that Gasly voiced his frustrations in the direction of Newey.
Marko mentioned, as quoted by GP Weblog: “We informed Gasly that he ought to use Verstappen’s setup. He has to adapt it to his driving fashion. He ought to concentrate on driving and never continuously inform Mr. Newey tips on how to construct the automobile for him.”
Whereas Purple Bull can be with out Newey for Lawson’s first yr with the staff, protecting your technical employees in your aspect and believing in you can be crucial, even when the automobile is difficult to drive at occasions.
“They race me so exhausting”
Albon’s solely full season as a Purple Bull driver could be summed up by the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix on the Nurburgring. Albon destroyed two units of tyres because of lock-ups within the race earlier than a careless incident with Daniil Kvyat.
Albon was additionally ridiculed for a message over staff radio after he couldn’t overtake Gasly. With Gasly placing up a stern defence, Albon complained to Purple Bull: “They race me so exhausting”.
Alex Albon retires from the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix
It was a transparent suggestion that Albon wasn’t fairly minimize out to be a Purple Bull driver. Lawson wants to make sure that he’s not afraid to stay sturdy and aggressive on monitor.
Thus far, a minimum of, Lawson has proven he’s ready to go head-to-head with a few of the largest names in F1, corresponding to Fernando Alonso. Displaying that grit on-track will stand Lawson in good stead even when he lacks the final word tempo relative to Verstappen.
False title goals
A powerful begin to the 2023 season proved to be Perez’s final undoing. After successful two of the opening 4 races, Perez thought he was lastly in title competition towards Verstappen.
After his win in Azerbaijan, Perez declared: “I’m undoubtedly within the struggle for the title, not simply due to Baku, I imagine I could be excellent anyplace this season and now I’m simply pondering of Miami.
“There are quite a lot of races arising and we should ensure we’re on it.”
That race would find yourself being Perez’s remaining victory in F1 and was quickly adopted by a worrying dip in type. Whereas Perez secured P2 within the drivers’ championship, handing Purple Bull their first-ever 1-2 end, common Q1/Q2 exits had been widespread for Perez.
2024 noticed a repeat of Perez’s mid-season, however this time, there was no revival by the top of the yr, forcing Purple Bull to interchange him with Lawson. Lawson will imagine he can beat Verstappen and win the F1 world championship, however in contrast to Perez, he must handle expectations and never get carried away in 2025.
It goes with out saying that on-track efficiency and being as near Verstappen as potential will decide how lengthy Lawson is at Purple Bull, however avoiding the errors made by his predecessors ought to give him one of the best probability of staying with the staff for a number of seasons.
