Max Verstappen receives blame for Liam Lawson Red Bull struggles

Former Formula 1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi has pinned the blame for Liam Lawson's struggles at Red Bull on Max Verstappen. 

Lawson is already being linked with a demotion back to Racing Bulls ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, following two disastrous grands prix. 

The New Zealander has failed to score a point for the Milton Keynes-based team and has not progressed past the first part of qualifying in any format. 

At the Shanghai International Circuit, he qualified in last for both the China sprint race and the Chinese Grand Prix itself. 

He has struggled to tame the RB21, whilst Verstappen also bemoaned the car for being "too slow" ahead of finishing fourth in Shanghai. 

No Red Bull driver since the arrival of the four-time world champion has started an F1 season as badly as Lawson, yet Minardi believes that is Verstappen's fault. 

It has become common for the Milton Keynes-based team to design its car to suit the Dutchman, often making it a handful for whoever is alongside him. 

Minardi pins Lawson's difficulties on this exact factor, as history as proven that no driver can copy how the 27-year-old drives. 

"At Red Bull the problem is quite different, if we can call it that, in the sense that once again they find themselves racing with only one driver [performing]: Max Verstappen," Minardi wrote on his own website.

"It is not possible for anyone alongside him to have such enormous difficulties. 

"[The RB21] is probably a very difficult car to drive and manage, [with it] being built entirely around Verstappen who has a particular driving style, causing difficulties for his team-mates. 

"I struggle to imagine a different explanation, since the Racing Bulls are faster and performing better than Lawson."