Lawson issued stark F1 seat warning: 'The writing is on the wall'

Liam Lawson has been warned by former F1 driver David Coulthard that "the writing is on the wall" surrounding his future at Red Bull, should he not perform in the Japanese Grand Prix. 

It has been rumoured Lawson will swap seats with Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda before the next race in Suzuka, although Coulthard has called for this not to happen until after that race.

Lawson is under immense pressure after failing to score a point in the first two races. He is also yet to escape the first part of qualifying in any format. 

He qualified last for the China sprint and the grand prix on his first visit to the Shanghai International Circuit. 

Suzuka, on the other hand, is the first track on the F1 calendar this season on which Lawson has experience after racing in Super Formula in 2023. 

Coulthard wants Red Bull to give Lawson one final chance, but recognises that a driver change is likely should he again underperform. 

"I feel for him, but this is not a put-your-arm-around-the-shoulder business. This is a lap-time business," Coulthard said in his role as a pundit on Channel 4.

"And the two opportunities he’s had, he hasn’t delivered. He’s got a race to try and pull it back, and he’s got, in my mind, Japan, where he’s raced prior to Formula 1, to show all the skills that got him the seat in the first place.

"But if it doesn’t work there, I think the writing’s on the wall, and that’s tough. We all want to see these guys fulfil their dreams, but you’ve got to deliver."

'Pretty sobering' for Lawson

Lawson's career as a full-time Red Bull driver got off to the worst start in the Australian Grand Prix season-opener, by crashing in the race after also being eliminated in Q1. 

It was effectively Lawson's home race, with no other F1 event as close to New Zealand. As pointed out by Coulthard, China was the perfect opportunity to bounce back, something he failed to do.

The former Red Bull driver also compared Lawson's current deficit to Verstappen to the gap which existed between the Dutchman and Sergio Perez, who, ultimately, lost his seat due to being too slow.

"Emotionally, it doesn’t get worse," Coulthard said regarding Lawson crashing in Australia. "In what is the closest thing to his home grand prix, everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

"China was an opportunity to make good and the gap is just too big. Nobody wants to be last on the grid, but to do it twice in the same weekend, last for the sprint, last for the main event, if he was emotionally close to the edge, I don’t know where he is now.

"It shows how things move on [that] I had completely forgotten about Checo, but he was that sort of gap away from most of the back end of last year, and it ended up with him basically having his contract removed for this year.

"That’s going to be pretty sobering for Liam Lawson."