Lawson delivers 'very tough' admission over early Red Bull F1 requirement

Liam Lawson expects a "very, very tough" start to life at Red Bull, as he gets to grips with completing a full F1 season for the first time.

Having only deputised for Ricciardo late in 2023 and replaced him outright towards the end of 2024, the New Zealander is yet to race at much of the F1 calendar, particularly over the first half of the schedule.

Whilst he is "excited" to experience new tracks, Lawson acknowledges the harsh reality of the task ahead, as any F1 rookie is faced with.

However, as he grows into the season, he anticipates things will become a little more comfortable. As the campaign progresses, he will also be expected to close whatever performance gap to Verstappen there is from the outset.

"Starting the season, it's going to be very, very tough," the 23-year-old said. "I've only ever finished a season, I've never really completed one.

"So I think the start of the year is going to be the hardest, but I would say I'm also most excited to go to these new tracks."

Lawson picks out F1 calendar highlights

Lawson signed out some circuits he is most looking forward to racing at, including the season-opener at Albert Park, in Melbourne.

The Australian track only became an F2 - and FIA F3 - venue in 2023, so the New Zealander missed the opportunity to compete in what is as close to a home event as he will likely have in F1.

"I'm very excited for Melbourne, and I'm very excited for the start of the year," he explained. "There's a lot of cool tracks that I haven't done, that I think I'll enjoy, like Melbourne.

"China looks like a cool track, Canada is somewhere I've always wanted to drive.

"But I think the start of the year is going to be the hardest as well, going to a bunch of tracks I haven't done before."