Max Verstappen issues stern Red Bull F1 demand as feelings on Liam Lawson made clear

Max Verstappen volition beryllium joined by a caller team-mate successful Liam Lawson this play arsenic Red Bull look to reclaim the contructors' rubric crown they mislaid to McLaren past year

Max Verstappen has proven helium does not attraction who his team-mate is arsenic helium demanded an betterment from Red Bull's plan team.

Verstappen claimed his 4th successive satellite drivers' title title past year. But helium did truthful successful a car that yet became the third-fastest connected the grid, with some McLaren and Ferrari finishing up of the Austrian broadside successful the constructors' championship.

It was a singular driblet disconnected from Red Bull, with the squad having won each but 1 contention successful the 2023 season. With McLaren's Lando Norris present smelling blood, portion Ferrari hole to tract a superstar pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Verstappen has fired a warning.

Red Bull's absorption successful the offseason has been dominated by the determination to regenerate Sergio Perez with Liam Lawson. But Verstappen has insisted that the squad look towards improving the car alternatively than settling connected a alteration of operator line-up.

“If we tin get the car backmost to the front, the sanction successful the different cockpit won’t matter,” helium told Blick. "I don’t person a crystal ball, but if we tin rectify definite weaknesses implicit the winter, we’ll beryllium backmost astatine the front. But I’m surely not making immoderate predictions here.

“Five teams should beryllium warring astatine the front. The weaknesses person been narrowed down. We often lacked the indispensable equilibrium due to the fact that we simply couldn’t get into the debased somesthesia window.”

Lawson volition beryllium 5th antithetic spouse Verstappen has had since joining Red Bull successful 2016, pursuing Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Perez. Team princial Christian Horner is backing the New Zealander to assistance instrumentality Red Bull backmost to the apical of the constructors' championship.

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“Liam’s performances implicit the people of his 2 stints with Racing Bulls person demonstrated that he’s not lone susceptible of delivering beardown results but that he’s besides a existent racer, not acrophobic to premix it with the champion and travel retired connected top," helium said upon Lawson's arrival.

“His accomplishment continues the Team’s agelong past of promoting from wrong the Red Bull Junior Programme and helium follows successful the footsteps of title and race-winning drivers specified arsenic Sebastian Vettel and of course, Max Verstappen.

“There’s nary uncertainty that racing alongside Max, a four-time champion and undoubtedly 1 of the top drivers ever seen successful F1, is simply a daunting task, but I’m definite Liam tin emergence to that situation and present immoderate outstanding results for america adjacent year.”

Lawson has conceded that his relation volition beryllium that of back-up to Verstappen. e told the Talking Bulls podcast: “Obviously arsenic Formula 1 drivers we each person 1 extremity that we stock and that’s winning a world championship.

"That is my goal, and that’s been my extremity since I was a kid and wanted to beryllium a Formula 1 driver, and evidently present I’m successful a large position. It’s decidedly not what I expect coming successful – I don’t expect to travel successful and spell consecutive distant and triumph a satellite championship.

"I cognize that the team’s extremity is evidently the constructors’ and that’s what I’m present to do, I’m present to assistance execute that. But personally for maine it’s trying to beryllium successful a competitory presumption arsenic rapidly arsenic possible. Obviously I’ve got the champion feline arsenic my squad mate to larn from.”