“Well, I liked the comment, the text, so I guess that speaks for itself, right? It was not a mistake.”
Max Verstappen is not happy.
At the center of a crowd huddled around a small table in the temporary hospitality building that is home for Red Bull for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, the Dutchman would not discuss exactly what he told the team about his thoughts on Liam Lawson’s demotion after just two races, but he still found a way to get the message across.
Former Formula 1 driver Giedo van der Garde had publis hed an Instagram post in support of Lawson a week ago, in which he said of the situation: “in my opinion this comes closer to bullying or a panic move than actual high athlete achievements”. And Verstappen had liked it. On Thursday he confirmed that it was he who had done so, as he agreed with the sentiment.
Christian Horner wasn’t at Suzuka while the drivers were facing questions about the situation, instead still travel ing down from Tokyo for a Friday arrival when he will become central to the story. But in his absence, it was Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies – encouraging a supportive and welcoming atmosphere from his personnel towards Lawson on his return – and the drivers themselves who were the focal point.
Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda had their say, but other drivers were naturally asked about the situation, too, and while Tsunoda is a seriously popular figure in the paddock, not all of the viewpoints were positive.
“I’m not surprised to see them move that early, no,” Lewis Hamilton said. “But I don’t really have any views on other teams.
“Both great drivers, I think we’ve got a lot of really great drivers here and particularly young talented drivers, I think there’s naturally a lot of pressure on youngsters coming in and I think there’s no way you can get fully on top of a car which is known to be not the easiest car to necessarily drive – just to give him two races was pretty harsh.”
From the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time to the most recent race-winner, there were multiple drivers who voiced their opinion that two races is not enough to be judging someone on.
“I think what we’ve seen from Liam in the first two races is not a reflection of his talent,” Oscar Piastri said. “I’ve raced Liam for a number of years and I think he’s an incredibly competitive driver. I don’t think the results he showed in the first two rounds are indicative of what he’s capable of, and I’ll leave it at that.”
The word “brutal” has often been used over the past week, from both a media or fan perspective, but also senior figures within the F1 paddock. Tsunoda acknowledges that can often be the case with Red Bull, but offers an interesting take on it perhaps being one of the reasons for the team’s past successes.
“For me at least, it was brutal enough last year at the end of the season when they chose Liam over me,” Tsunoda said. “It is what it is. I’m sure Liam also understands how quickly things can change within our structure. That’s one of the reasons we succeed, but also one of the reasons why we tend to get a little more attention with those situations.