Horner defends Lawson after he was “too slow” ...

Liam Lawson’s maiden grand prix weekend with Crimson Bull obtained off to a shaky begin as he closed out Friday’s second apply session seventeenth quickest of the 19 drivers who took half – and over half a second slower than team-mate Max Verstappen on the identical gentle tyre compound.

“Comfy, simply too gradual,” stated Lawson to Sky Sports activities F1. “We clearly have numerous work to do in a single day.”

In an FP1 session interrupted by Oliver Bearman crashing his Haas, Lawson was sixteenth quickest whereas Verstappen was fifth, over seven tenths of a second sooner. Each Crimson Bull drivers struggled with an absence of grip fairly than stability because the RB21, regardless of a considerable improve together with a brand new flooring, couldn’t ‘swap on’ all 4 tyres, significantly within the first and remaining sectors.

Crimson Bull crew principal Christian Horner was fast to level out that Lawson lacks particular monitor expertise, since his time in F2 pre-dated that championship’s arrival on the Australian GP help programme in 2023. In distinction, Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar – who raced right here in F2 in ’23 and ’24 – was sixth quickest in FP2 and simply two tenths off team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

“Liam, it’s a giant step up,” Horner informed Sky Sports activities F1. “Being Max’s team-mate might be the hardest job in System 1. However he’s obtained the psychological aptitude and power of character to take care of that.

“He’s not been right here earlier than, I believe he’s the one driver on the grid that hasn’t carried out some laps round this circuit. However he’s discovering his toes and giving some superb suggestions, he’s settling in properly. We’ll see over the subsequent few races.”

Maybe of most concern to Lawson and Crimson Bull is that the explanations for his efficiency deficit aren’t instantly apparent – plus the hole would most likely have been bigger if Verstappen had managed to get a transparent lap throughout his qualifying simulations.

“I believe if we knew that we’d know the right way to repair it as properly,” stated Lawson.

“The stability wasn’t fully out,” added Verstappen. “No huge or main issues, simply one way or the other the grip wasn’t coming alive.

“Which means we’re probably not up there for the time being.”

Images from Australian GP – Free Observe