'The bell will ring' - Liam Lawson handed ominous Max Verstappen warning

Liam Lawson has been told he can either make a name for himself at Red Bull or be the next driver out of the door should he suffer against Max Verstappen.

With just 11 grands prix under his belt, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko determined that Lawson would be Verstappen's new team-mate for this season after Sergio Perez's services were dispensed with at the end of last year.

Lawson has been told by Horner to simply focus on his performance rather than looking over to the other side of the garage at what Verstappen is doing, but that will be easier said than done.

All of Verstappen's previous team-mates - Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez - have been judged against the Dutchman's performances, and it will be no different for Lawson, according to former Red Bull driver David Coulthard.

Speaking on the RacingNews365 Podcast, which you can view or listen to on Monday [Mar 10], the 13-time grand prix winner said: "Whether Liam has a 10-race, 11-race advantage over the other rookies, I don't think matters. He will be directly compared to Max.

"If he gets close to Max or beats Max, he has a long career in Formula 1. If he doesn't, then the bell will ring and in will come the next contender."

Lawson has previously stated he does not consider himself a rookie given his level of experience. In years past when Coulthard was racing, 11 grands prix would have been two-thirds of a season.

At present, with 24 races on the calendar, it is still just shy of half a season, in contrast to the five drivers who are rookies this year - Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan and Isack Hadjar.

All five will be under the spotlight for different reasons and will have their own performance targets, either personal or laid out for them by the team.

"I don't think we should look at people as if it's their first year," said Coulthard. "You get one chance to make a first impression, and then, if you're lucky, a season to show that you're good enough to continue in Formula 1.

"That would be the same in most sports. Maybe team sports are slightly different to Formula 1 where you're committed to two drivers for the season, but teams have reserve drivers.

"You're always going to want to go for performance over anything else. So you've just got to get on with it."

'Being a rookie not a good enough excuse'

In the lead-up to the three days of testing in Bahrain recently, and also discussed during it, much was made of the fact the rookies would only have a day and a half behind the wheel to get up to speed with their team's car for this year.

Drivers have access to simulator tools and an array of past cars, under the Testing of Previous Cars regulations, that allow them to get up to speed as quickly as possible to ensure they hit the ground running for the opening grand prix, which this year is in Australia on March 16.

Coulthard feels there are no excuses for a rookie these days.

"Adaptability is part of the skill set of racing drivers," he said. "Ayrton Senna, to name one of the very greatest, arguably the greatest, went straight from F3 to Formula 1.

"Kimi Räikkönen went straight from Formula Renault to Formula 1. He did his first test around Mugello, a proper, scary racetrack, and impressed Sauber, and then suddenly he's a grand prix driver. There are many other examples.

"I had done three years of testing with Williams, testing for [Nigel] Mansell, [Alain] Prost, beginning of the season for Senna. But the first time I drove the FW16, which was the '94 car, was rolling out the pits for qualifying in Barcelona because pre-season testing had been filled with Ayrton and Damon [Hill] testing the car.

"So I'd never driven the car and I'm going out to qualify. I wasn't a rookie, but it was a brand-new car and I had four sets of tyres and an hour to go out and discover it. You just have to get on with it.

"Antonelli is undoubtedly the best-prepared of the rookies in terms of mileage. Mercedes has understandably given him a two-year-old car and he's tested extensively to bring him up to speed.

"And if you're good enough, you're old enough. And if you're good enough, you're not too old, as shown by Max coming in at 17 and Fernando [Alonso] still being there at what 43, 44, whatever age he is.

"Of course, you can't put a wise head on young shoulders, but talent's talent. So inevitably the young rookies will be better versions of themselves by the time they get to the ripe old age of 25. But if they're quick enough, they'll just...

"Being a rookie isn't a good enough excuse nowadays."