Liam Lawson delivers blunt reply to Zak Brown after Red Bull seat jibe

Liam Lawson has responded to Zak Brown's claim that Yuki Tsunoda should be driving at Red Bull this year.

Lawson was called up to replace Sergio Perez at the Milton Keynes-based squad, receiving the call-up ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.

The Australian Grand Prix last weekend marked Lawson's Red Bull debut. The New Zealander, however, struggled to extract pace in qualifying and the race before spinning into a wall late on in heavy rain.

In contrast, Tsunoda had a strong event and was consistently in the top five throughout the grand prix before a botched strategy call caused him to drop out of the points.

It left Brown to declare that Tsunoda is “probably the guy who should be in the Red Bull if you look at how he's performed”, adding that Red Bull “seem to make some strange driver choices from time to time”.

Offering his response to Brown's remark, Lawson brushed off the statement.

“I couldn’t care less what Zak says, to be honest with you,” Lawson told media including RacingNews365.

“I don’t think I’ve spoken to him - ever! And I haven’t read any social media over the last two weeks.”

Lawson eyes gains amid condensed F1 schedule

Following the difficult event from Australia, China offers Lawson a chance to reset and enjoy a stronger outing in his new environment.

With four grand prix weekends taking place over the next five weeks, Lawson asserted the quick turnaround can offer a positive foundation to build his speed behind the wheel.

“Always as a driver, if you have a good weekend, sometimes you want to sit on it for a little bit,” he said. 

“Then you have a bad weekend, you just want to go racing again. So for me, yes, it's good. 

“But also, [it's good] to have lots of races at the start of the season. We have a week off [after China] and then a triple header. 

“With how sort of little experience having this car, it's just going to be good to do more weekends to get more comfortable and familiar.”