Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner insists 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Liam Lawson will be given time to perform alongside 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen.

Despite only contesting 11 grands prix with Red Bull’s sister team in F1, Lawson was promoted to become Verstappen’s latest teammate as a replacement for 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez, 𝐆who was dropped at the end of an abysmal 2024 season.

The𝔍 22-year-old New Zealander ended Friday practice at the seasoꦐn-opening Australian Grand Prix only 17th out of the 19 drivers who set times.

Lawson’s quickest time in FP2 was over half a second slower than Verstappen’s, while he also trailed the Dutchman by a sizeable gap in the openin✃g session, having survived an early kiss with the wall at Turn 9.

Reflecting on the first fay of practice, Lawson admitted he was “jus🍌t too slow”.

Horner, who refe𝄹rred to Lawson as “still a rookie”, is confident he can get up to speed once he finds his feet at Red Bull.

“Liam, it’s a big step up, bein🔜g Max’s teammate is🦋 probably the toughest job in Formula 1, but he’s got the mental attitude and strength of character to deal with that,” Horner told Sky Sports.

“He’s not been here before. I think he’s the only driver on the grid that ha𓆉sn’t done some laps around this circuit. He’s finding his feet and he’s giving very good feedback. He’s settling in nicely, so we’ll see over the next few races.”

Asked what advice Red Bull has been giving Lawson, Horner re🙈plied: “I think the main thing is just focus on himself.

“Almost ignore what’s going on with 🌳the other car, just focus on himself, on working with his engineers and extracting the best that he can.

“He’s got a steep learning curve but everything that we’ve seen in the junior formula and the testing that he’s done with us, he’s got the ability꧃ to take that on and grow. We’ve just got to give him time.”

Read more: Long run data analysis establishes McLaren and Ferrari pecking order in Australia

Red Bull seeking improvements

Both Verstappen and Lawson indicated after Friday’s running that Red Bull h🌞ave plenty of work to do overnight to improve the team𝔉’s chances heading into the first qualifying session of the season.

Horner echoed his driver’s verdicts, adding: “You get a ꧂trend, you can seeꦕ cars that look competitive. You can see some surprises in there. It’s a unique little circuit, this one.

“There’s some areas we need to improve on. The timesheet isn't a true representation of where everyone 🥂is at the moment, it's an indication.

“With the prospect of🍌 rain, you have the dilemma on whether you focus on Sunday set-up or one-lap performance."