Lawson relief in avoiding 'tough' aspect to Red Bull fresh start

Liam Lawson has expressed relief he will be avoiding the kind of tough start to this season he has endured the past two campaigns.

In 2023, as reserve driver for Red Bull and AlphaTauri, Lawson was thrown in at the deep end in deputising for Daniel Ricciardo.

That came during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend after the Australian broke a finger in his left hand in several places following a practice crash.

It resulted in a five-race cameo for the young New Zealander, who had to wait just over a year for his next outing after Ricciardo was axed by RB following the Singapore Grand Prix.

With Red Bull confirming just before Christmas that Lawson would replace Sergio Perez for the coming campaign, the 22-year-old will get to savour a pre-season build-up for the first time in his fledgling F1 career.

"I've never had that," said Lawson, speaking to RacingNews365. "It's always been jumping in mid, towards the end of the season.

"Honestly, that's been tough. I'd love to have a proper pre-season prep like everybody else, so hopefully we get the chance to have that."

Lawson to grow into his RB21

At least with 11 grands prix under his belt ahead of serving as number two inside Red Bull to Max Verstappen, Lawson will not head into his maiden pre-season handicapped.

According to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, Lawson proved himself by going up against Yuki Tsunoda at RB last year, with the data indicating he had more potential than the Japanese driver, resulting in the promotion.

In terms of setting up a car, Lawson knows there will be a period of adaptation before he learns in what direction he will need to take his RB21.

"You learn little things," said Lawson. "Obviously, the more you drive, the more you work out exactly what sort of car balance you like, what things favour you, what things don't.

"The more races I do, the more things I learn that suit the way I like a car. That stuff you learn over time.

"But when you first come in, you can't know, so you sort of start exactly where your team-mate is at, and go from there.

"Over time you learn that there are certain things that you like differently that will apply."