Ex-F1 champion asserts Liam Lawson wants to replace Max Verstappen at Red Bull

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve made it clear that Liam Lawson might have his own plans at Red Bull.

Ex-F1 champion asserts Liam Lawson wants to replace Max Verstappen at Red Bull

Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson (via IMAGO)

Liam Lawson has been promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2025. The Austrian team has showed faith in the Kiwi driver to partner Max Verstappen. Now, former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has highlighted that the 22-year-old has higher ambitions than just being the Dutchman’s teammate.

Red Bull made the call to promote Lawson at the eve of the 2025 season. Milton Keynes sacked Sergio Perez to make way for the 22-year-old. It is clear that there are high expectations on Liam Lawson considering 2025 will be his first full season in Formula 1.

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Jacques Villeneuve claimed that the 22-year-old has been placed at Red Bull to help Max Verstappen‘s run this year. However, the Canadian insisted that in his head, Liam Lawson wants to essentially replace Verstappen and take up the role of team leader in the future. Thus, the Kiwi driver will be looking to show his pace from day 1.

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Contractually Lawson is there to help Verstappen, but in his own head, he’s not. In his head, he’s there to replace Max, so he will try to be tough and quick.

Jacques Villeneuve told Action Network
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Liam Lawson can put Max Verstappen ‘under pressure’

Villeneuve reckoned that having a young talent like Lawson might push Verstappen this year. The four-time world champion has relatively had it easy when it comes to teammates since Daniel Ricciardo‘s exit before 2019. Thus, Red Bull would be able to make better progress if Max Verstappen feels the need to push himself further.

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, image via IMAGO

Hopefully it will put Max under pressure and push Max to drive even better, and this way helps the team to make progress.

Jacques Villeneuve noted

Certainly, Liam Lawson will be looking to match the 27-year-old in the upcoming season. The 22-year-old will learn a lot from his world-champion teammate. However, it might not be smooth sailing for Lawson if he fails to adapt quickly to the Red Bull chassis, something his predecessors have struggled with.

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