Perez dealt Marko criticism after Lawson impresses

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has insisted that Liam Lawson is "much more enthusiastic" than Sergio Perez ever was. 

The Mexican driver and Red Bull parted ways at the end of last year, opening the door to Liam Lawson to be given a full-time seat for the first time in his F1 career. 

On the first day of pre-season testing on Wednesday, Lawson was second fastest in the morning session. 

Ultimately, the New Zealander ended the first day eighth on the timesheets, with his only mistake having been a spin between the second and third corner. 

Lawson completed a modest 58 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit, leaving Marko very impressed by the young driver. 

Red Bull has opted to give Lawson the entirety of the second day of testing, in what will be his final on-track action before the season-opener in Australia. 

Based on what he has seen so far, Lawson has pleased Marko; however, the 81-year-old did note why the driver failed to improve after setting his best lap on the opening day.

"He did well," Marko stated to Motorsport.com. "Only when we went from hard to medium, he didn't improve anymore. 

"We also changed something about the car at that time and that didn't work. However, within the team that made sense and it was also known why it didn't work."

Nevertheless, Lawson has settled into Red Bull well, with his enthusiasm already being deemed by Marko as better than Perez's was. 

"Liam is much more enthusiastic," Marko insisted. "That's the age, yes. But at least he hasn't done anything wrong."