Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner insists 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Liam Lawson will be given time to perform alongside 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen.

Despite only contesting 11 grands prix with Red Bull’s sister team in F1, Lawson was promoted to become Verstappen’s latest teammate as a replacement for 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Sergio Perezꦓ, who was dropped at the end of an abysmal 2024 seasonꦫ.

The 22-year-old New Zealande♎r ended Friday practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix only 17th out of the 19 drivers who set times.

Lawson’s quickest time in FP2 was over half a second slower than Verstappen’s, while he also trailed the Dutchman by a sizeable gap in the opening session, havin🃏g survived an early kiss with the wall at Turn 9.

Reflꦑecting on the first fay of practice, Lawson adm🉐itted he was “just too slow”.

Horner, who referred to Lawson as “still a rookie”, is confident he 🌄can get up to speed once he finds his fe💝et at Red Bull.

“Liam, it’s a big step up, being Max’s teammate is probably🃏 the toughest job in Formula 1, but he’s got the mental attitude and strength of character to deal with that,” Horner told Sky Sports.

“He’s not been here before. I think he’s the only driver on the grid that hasn’t done some laps around this circuit. He’s finding his feet and he’s giving very good feedback. He’s s💮ettling in nicely, so we’ll see over the next few races.”

Asked what advice Red Bull has been givingꦯ Lawson, Horner replied: “I think the main thing is just focus on h൲imself.

“Almost ignore what’s going on with the other car, just focus on himself,𝔉 on working with his engineers and extracting the best that he can.

“He’s got a steep learning curve but everything that we’ve seen in the junior form🔥ula and the testing th🎀at he’s done with us, he’s got the ability to take that on and grow. We’ve just got to give him time.”

Read more: Long run data analysis establishes McLaren and Ferrari pecking order in Australia

Red Bull seeking improvements

Both Verstappen and Lawson indicated after Friday’s running that Red Bull have plenty of work t🃏o do overnight to impꦅrove the team’s chances heading into the first qualifying session of the season.

🍌Horner echoed his driver’s verdicts, adding: “You get a trend, you c꧟an see cars that look competitive. You can see some surprises in there. It’s a unique little circuit, this one.

“There’s some areas we need to improve💮 on. The timesheet isn't a true representation of where everyone is at the moment, it's an indication.

“With the prospect of rain, you have the dilemma on whether you focus on Sunday set-ꦿup or one-lap performance."