Former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve has criticized Red Bull and its senior advisor, Helmut Marko, for the way it treats drivers struggling with performance. Villeneuve also pointed to the RB21 F1 car, which seems to suit Max Verstappen’s racing style, but his new teammate Liam Lawson seems to be struggling with it. The case was similar with Sergio Perez in 2024, who was eventually ousted for underperformance.
Lawson’s start to the 2025 season with his new team hasn’t gone down well. In Australia, the Kiwi driver suffered from a DNF in tricky weather, while Verstappen secured the second spot. The Chinese Grand Prix sprint race saw him qualify for the 20th spot on the grid, eventually finishing 14th in the race, while Verstappen finished third.
The high contrast in performance was also seen between Verstappen and Perez last year, leading Red Bull to miss out on a Constructors’ Championship win. That same year, Lawson was pitched alongside Yuki Tsunoda in the junior F1 team Racing Bulls (then VCARB) as both their performances were being closely assessed. Eventually, Lawson was selected for the Red Bull seat over the Japanese driver for being able to perform consistently under pressure.
Now though, with fingers being pointed at Lawson and with Marko’s alleged harsh remarks about the team’s drivers, Villeneuve has called out Red Bull for failing to improve the RB21, which even Verstappen criticized for its lack of pace, and pointed out that Red Bull was not the right team for a driver experiencing a bad race weekend. He said:
“I mean, it’s worse than Perez right now, and this car needs to evolve, needs to improve, and you cannot do it alone.
“It’s also not the right team to have a bad weekend in, because Helmut Marko doesn’t like it.
“He really pounds on his drivers. He wants them to be strong mentally, and if you don’t cut it, he chops you.
“They know that. It’s a tough space to be in.
“In another team, he would be protected better.”
Villeneuve went on to remark that Red Bull was “running out of drivers in their pool,” and that is what is making the team hold on to Lawson. He added:
“That’s the issue. Because even on Isack Hadjar, [Marko] was very rough on him last weekend. Isack was in tears when he crashed, and Helmut reacted really badly to that. So it just put more pressure.”
He added:
“Those drivers are very young.
“They might not be ready for F1, they might not be strong enough for F1 yet, and if you put Helmut Marko in the mix, it’s either, you become strong really quickly, or you’re done.”
With a new car at the disposal of Lawson, a different machine from what he drove last year alongside Tsunoda, the 23-year-old driver needs time to adapt and showcase his racing prowess. A fair assessment of his capabilities can only be made after he has spent sufficient hours in the RB21.
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