Liam Lawson handed 'dream continues' boost following turbulent F1 year

Liam Lawson has been reminded that his Formula 1 "dream" is still alive despite a turbulent season for the 23-year-old.

After competing in just 11 grands prix spread over the previous two seasons with AlphaTauri and VCARB, Lawson was handed the fastest promotion of any Red Bull junior driver in the programme's history when he was asked to replace Sergio Perez at the end of last year.

But after just two torturous races behind the wheel of the RB21 in Australia and China, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko took the difficult decision to demote Lawson back to the 'sister' team, and promote Yuki Tsunoda, who had been overlooked in favour of the New Zealander in December.

Lawson's three-race return to Racing Bulls so far has not all been plain sailing as he has finished 17th, 16th and 12th in the races in Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, finishing behind team-mate Isack Hadjar on each occasion.

Bayer concedes the driver change so early in the season was far from ideal, made at a time when the team was finding its feet with Tsunoda and Hadjar as its pairing.

"We spent a lot of time over winter developing as a team," said Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer, speaking to RacingNews365. "It felt like last year we were on a good trajectory. We had learned a lot from the positive moments and not-so-positive moments we went through as a team.

"Laurent [Mekies, team principal] and the guys have done an amazing job focusing on the car and its drivability, the small details, understanding it better after what we experienced last year, and that was the focus.

"On the other hand, the focus was also to establish our lineup. We did a lot of work with Yuki, and with Isack we immediately had a good connection.

"Then I had a call from Helmut after China, and he said they were thinking about making a move, that the pressure on Liam was rising, that he was finding it difficult, and the testing in Bahrain didn't work.

"To me, in that very moment, it was not good news, because there was great harmony in the team. You could see the car was fast, and the drivers were happy. Apart from a couple of small hiccups, we were off to a great start."

Recognising part of the team's role is to develop young drivers, Bayer added: "Half of the grid went through this team, different names, so we were extremely happy for Yuki to make that move [to Red Bull]. Since I've known Yuki, it has been his dream.

"I'm convinced he will do a great job. I'm very certain about that. At the same time, Liam coming back to us was good news. We all know and like him, and we were sad to see him go.

"There was a thought last year we would continue with Yuki and Liam, that we would build and grow together as a team, because that's where you can find performance.

"In a way, we're used to it [driver changes]. The team has shown great positivity around it, and Liam is part of the family."

Sad how it happened for Lawson

Bayer has confirmed that upon his return to the team, Lawson was far from happy, recognising his dream of driving for Red Bull was over after just two grands prix.

It took a conversation between the two for Lawson to realise he still had so much to offer to F1, and his opportunity had far from passed him by.

"He was certainly sad at how it all went down because it just happened," said Bayer. "When I met him for the first time [after the return move], he came to Faenza for the seat fit, and I said to him that we were genuinely happy to have him back.

"I told him it would take him a moment to get through this, because he'd achieved his lifelong dream, and suddenly that dream was over. But the truth is, the dream continues because he's still a Formula 1 driver.

"I said, 'You're in a good car, with a good team, you're in a happy place, so just try and build on that again and go racing, and we'll help you with it'. And that's what he's done. We're building and working with him."

As to whether Lawson will get a second chance and one day return to Red Bull, Bayer is not ruling it out.

"There are so many ifs, thens and whens, but theoretically, I guess it is possible," said Bayer. "For that to happen, Red Bull drivers would have to struggle in a way that Red Bull wants to make a change.

"They will have to look again, and they will look at the two drivers currently in this team, and then the one who has the best marks at the time will probably get the chance."