Last Updated on March 15 2025, 2:32 pm

Marko admits difficult weekend for Lawson as Formula One rookie struggles in Australian Grand Prix qualifying – Liam Lawson endured a difficult start to his Red Bull debut weekend, with qualifying in Melbourne proving a major setback. The young New Zealander, who has been promoted from Racing Bulls to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull, failed to get out of Q1 and finished 18th. With a 0.578-second deficit to a place in Q2 and over a second down on Verstappen, Lawson’s first competitive outing in the RB20 was far from ideal.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko acknowledged the struggles, but urged patience. Speaking to Sky, he admitted that the weekend had not gone to plan, but stressed the importance of giving Lawson time to adjust. “Now we have to let him cool down a bit and then we’ll discuss what went wrong this weekend. But we have to be patient and wait for three or four races to see his true potential,” explained Marko.

As the only driver on the grid who had never raced at the Albert Park circuit before, Lawson faced a steep learning curve. His weekend was further complicated by the loss of crucial track time in Free Practice 3, which he believes had a significant impact on his performance. “I think missing FP3 this morning was really costly for us,” he admitted after qualifying.

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Marko thinks Lawson put too much pressure on himself

Marko suggested that the pressure to make an immediate impact at Red Bull may have played a part in Lawson’s underwhelming performance. The 22-year-old was keen to impress but struggled to find his rhythm after missing a key practice session.

“He completely missed the third session and then he just wanted to prove what he could do. Unfortunately it didn’t work out,” said Marko.

The pressure on Lawson is compounded by the high expectations Red Bull has for its second driver. Sergio Perez, who occupied the seat prior to Lawson’s promotion, often struggled to match Verstappen’s pace, averaging 0.561 seconds slower than the Dutchman in qualifying.

This performance gap caused problems for Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, with the team looking for a stronger challenger to support Verstappen’s dominance. While Lawson’s result in Melbourne was disappointing, it also raises the question of how Perez would have fared in the same circumstances.

If his average qualifying deficit to Verstappen was applied to this session, the Mexican would also have failed to make it out of Q1 and would likely have finished 17th alongside Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.

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Lawson finds positives in difficult qualifying

Despite the early exit, Lawson remained calm and found the positives in his performance. He highlighted the gains he made in certain corners, noting that he was significantly quicker in some sectors than in previous sessions. “We were about half a second quicker than before in turns six and nine, so we would have improved going into Q2,” said Lawson. However, a series of mistakes in the final sector prevented him from capitalising on his improvements.

Tyre degradation also played a part, with Lawson noting that grip levels had dropped towards the end of his flying lap. “I think the tyres were already starting to wear out in that last sector,” he explained, echoing a concern raised by Verstappen after the session.

Marko also felt that Lawson was too aggressive in his approach. “He overdid it a bit. He wanted too much and didn’t have enough time on track to do it properly,” he concluded.

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Marko calls for patience as young drivers adapt to F1 pressure

Looking at the bigger picture, Marko urged a more measured assessment of Lawson’s potential. He pointed out that young drivers, whether it be Lawson or another up-and-coming talent like Kimi Antonelli, often struggle when thrown into high-pressure situations in Formula One. “The younger ones, when the pressure builds up, it’s not always easy for them. They just need a bit of patience,” he said.

Determined to bounce back, Lawson refused to let a disappointing qualifying define his weekend. He remained optimistic about race day, and saw an opportunity to make progress if conditions worked in his favour. “I think we made a step forward with the car today, regardless of the result,” he said, maintaining confidence in his race pace.

With the unpredictable weather in Melbourne, he was also hoping for rain, believing it could level the playing field and provide a chance to move up the order. “I’d certainly welcome some rain tomorrow,” he added.

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Racing Bulls shine as Lawson struggles

While Lawson’s struggles were a talking point, Red Bull’s junior team, the Racing Bulls, enjoyed a much stronger qualifying session. Isack Hadjar, another promising young driver, impressed by reaching Q2 and narrowly missing out on a Q3 spot by finishing 11th. His team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, went one step further and secured an excellent fifth place on the grid.

Marko was pleased with the Racing Bulls’ performance, particularly Hadjar’s. “We have another young star in [Isack] Hadjar who did a really good job,” he said, suggesting that Red Bull’s pipeline of young talent remains strong.

While Lawson’s debut did not go as planned, Red Bull are prepared to give him time to adapt. With patience and further experience, he will have the opportunity to prove whether he can be the long-term solution alongside Verstappen. For now, both Lawson and Red Bull will be hoping that race day offers a chance for redemption.

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MORE F1 NEWS – McLaren boss concerned despite 1-2 in qualifying

The speculation over which team is quickest at the start of 2025 is now finished as Formula One finally ran its first competitive on track session with qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. As most F1 analysts predicted McLaren were the class of the field claiming a 1-2 grid start with Lando Norris on pole just 0.084s ahead of his Australian team mate.

Yet after the first runs in qualifying three, Piastri and Norris had it all to do with Max Verstappen ominously leading the way. Yet the McLaren pair who ran early for their final push lap in the session, corrected their errors from the first runs and stormed to the head of the field where they remained as the chequered flag fell to end the session.

Verstappen made an error at turn 11 losing a couple of tenths which would have put him in the McLaren mix, and given his new team mate couldn’t even make it out of the first qualifying session, his value to Red Bull was once again front and centre…. READ MORE ON THIS STORY