Lawson offered brutal reminder of Verstappen authority

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has brutally reminded Liam Lawson that Max Verstappen is the team's "undisputed number one". 

Lawson impressed Marko and team principal Christian Horner in his six-race spell for RB at the end of 2024, resulting in the New Zealander being chosen as Sergio Perez's replacement. 

For Lawson, it means his first full-time F1 seat will be at Red Bull, alongside Verstappen who is chasing a fifth consecutive drivers' title. 

It is a daunting task for Lawson, who Marko is confident can be a success for the Milton Keynes-based outfit. 

However, the Austrian has reminded him of his position in the team. 

"Liam Lawson is very young, has very good mental consistency and drives very fast," Marko told Autosprint. "I think he can do well at Red Bull. 

"The team obviously has an undisputed number one in Max Verstappen, so Lawson has to think about what he can do best without worrying about how the team leader is doing. 

"He just has to make his own nice contribution."

Tsunoda again misses out

In choosing Lawson to replace Perez, Red Bull again opted against promoting Yuki Tsunoda, who will instead continue with the sister team for a fifth season. 

According to Marko, the Japanese driver will be the "undisputed leader" at Racing Bulls, where a new team-mate will partner him. 

Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar has been promoted by Red Bull to the sister team, and Marko is intrigued as to how the latter will fare.

"I think Yuki is a very good driver who can drive very hard," explained Marko. "But his skills do not always equal his consistency and efficiency. 

"He will get a fair chance as the undisputed leader in Racing Bulls, which can count on the talent of rookie Hadjar. 

"Him I regard as a very interesting newcomer, given the qualities he has already shown positively in Formula 2."