Aannounced, Lawson in place of Perez; Red Bull’s open secret is now official: it’s better to try a flash in the sky than witness a twilight shutdown.
NIn fact, there was little chance of the Mexican staying, having sunk himself with a series of nightmare results which made him indefensible even by his most fervent supporter, Christian Horner.
UA breath of youth that will not affect Max Verstappen’s serenity: 22 years for Lawson, who has rather limited experience in F1, consisting of just 11 races with Alpha Tauri/Racing Bulls.
Aadaptability: this was the key word in choosing the New Zealander, second in the DTM in 2021 and in SuperFormula in 2023 in his debut year and in the points in his third race in Formula 1; a driver who sits in any cockpit and does not disfigure, while not dazzling.
Nno promotion like this for Yuki Tsunoda, who had already guessed his destiny from Helmut Marko’s lapidary declarations in recent months, which ranged from a “it lacks stability and reliability” still “inconstant“, to the definitive “feels the pressure from Lawson”.
ALawson will have his great opportunity in his hands, launched into the downhill without the shield of sponsors – as happened to Perez – and aware of metaphorically risking the immediate or almost immediate guillotine, in the event of results that are not up to par.
Une of the ghosts that will hover over Lawson’s cockpit will be – in addition to Tsunoda – that of Arvid Lindblad, born in 2007 and a rising star of the Red Bull academy, from whom Marko expects great things, who will make his debut in F2 in 2025 and in August will already be adult…
E Lawson will therefore need great resistance to pressure to avoid being swept away by Max Verstappen and Red Bull, as already happened to Albon, Gasly and Perez: in the team, however, they are focusing a lot on Lawson’s temperament, already seen on the track and off in duels with Alonso.
IFinally, how could I not admit it, my adolescence was marked – clearly in the form of obvious traumas – by the TV series ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and the assonance – and the blondness of the protagonist – with Lawson was too tempting to ignore. And yes, by joining the initial of each paragraph you will have ‘survey‘, or how we teenagers of the late ’90s mispronounced the theme song that actually howled: ‘I don’t want to wait’…
On the other hand, a new TV series is starting on the Red Bull Channel: how many episodes will Lawson’s Creek last?
