Lawson handed 'sacked' warning after disastrous Red Bull debut

Liam Lawson has been reminded of Red Bull's propensity for firing drivers when they do not perform up to standard in F1.

The New Zealander suffered through a dismal first race weekend with the Milton Keynes-based squad, which culminated with his grand prix ending in the wall on lap 47 of 57.

Prior to that, Lawson fell well short of team-mate Max Verstappen's pace during the first two practice sessions of the weekend at Albert Park.

It is a venue the 23-year-old had not yet raced at - the only driver on the grid in that situation - but he took too long to get up to speed and his weekend got even worse on Saturday.

An air intake issue curtailed his FP3 running and a messy, Sergio Perez-esque, qualifying left him out in Q1, something that will no doubt have alarmed his new team.

Brundle underlined the "misery" and "errors" that characterised Lawson's weekend in Melbourne, as well as pointing out the fortunate position of heading directly into the Chinese Grand Prix.

"Liam Lawson of Red Bull, in particular, will be very happy that we head immediately into another race week so that he can hopefully park the misery and errors he endured in Melbourne and put them right," the 65-year-old wrote for Sky Sports F1.

The former F1 driver-turned-commentator also highlighted the six-time constructors' champion's proclivity for getting rid of underperforming drivers.

Brundle made reference to how the team has often fired them - or resorted to "P45s" as he put it - whilst defending its at-times ruthless approach to management.

"That team doesn't do cuddles and reassuring words, and nor should they at this level," Brundle added. 

"P45s are more their thing if you can't keep Verstappen at least in view from time to time."

(A P45, the tax letter given to an employee in the United Kingdom from an employer upon leaving a job, is synonymous with jibes about people who are at risk of having their position terminated for poor performance or gross misconduct.)