Unusual Verstappen warning dealt by motorsport legend

Motorsport legend Tom Kristensen has warned Liam Lawson that he must "prepare himself" that Max Verstappen will be quicker. 

Following 11 appearances for Red Bull's sister team across the past two seasons, Lawson has been promoted to the main outfit to partner Verstappen this year. 

Lawson's promotion marks a return to the Milton Keynes-based outfit promoting from within its junior ranks, having broken its tradition at the end of 2020 by signing Sergio Perez to replace Alex Albon.

Against Verstappen, all of the Dutchman's former team-mates since Daniel Ricciardo left struggled to overcome his dominance. 

Perez was the only driver to enjoy any success alongside him, but also ended up being consistently slower towards the end of his time with Red Bull.

To maximise his potential, Kristensen has called for Lawson to try and finish some practice sessions ahead of the four-time world champion in a bid to build his confidence. 

"I think he needs to prepare himself to, probably not the word struggle, but he has to prepare himself to be slower [than Max]," Kristensen said on the RacingNews365 podcast.  

"And I think also the way they [Red Bull] have sort of fed him in, that's sort of the name of the game. But, of course, as a racing driver, you have to aspire to make that gap [to your team-mate] as small as possible. 

"And once in a while, tip in front, take some practices, make sure that you are faster at some places to build that confidence, and then you will see over time. 

"But we have also seen that, apart from Checo Perez, time has not been working for anyone who's struggling against Max."

Sainz the 'perfect fit', not Lawson

Lawson was awarded Perez's Red Bull seat after impressing the likes of team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko alongside Yuki Tsunoda at RB. 

Whilst Kristensen likes the look of the New Zealander, though, he feels the Austrian outfit missed a trick in not signing its former junior driver Carlos Sainz to partner Verstappen.

"So, of course, looking back a perfect fit not a year ago, but nearly would have been Carlos Sainz, he would have been a perfect fit," stated Kristensen. 

"But as we all know, the world is not perfect, and there's politics, there's influence and in that sense, I think they have ended up with the right guy, with the right potential."

Despite believing Sainz would have been the "perfect fit", the nine-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner does think Lawson is a good addition to Red Bull. 

However, the 57-year-old is intrigued how Lawson will fare should things begin to go against him this year. 

"I think he's a good fit for it, and he seems like a strong and confident little guy," added the Dane.

"But we will see how [he does] when he comes under the skin, which we have seen sometimes when he has been sort of fighting to impress Red Bull over Yuki Tsunoda.

"There has been a little bit of cracks in there but I look forward to see it unfold, and I think Red Bull have made the right choice after they didn't choose what I believe would have been the perfect fit."

Click here for the full podcast episide with Tom Kristensen!