Christian Horner reflects on 'difficult weekend' for Liam Lawson in Australia as he backs Isack Hadjar to recover from formation lap shunt

Christian Horner has backed Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar to recover from a difficult Australian Grand Prix that saw both drivers fail to reach the chequered flag.

New Red Bull signing Lawson and Racing Bulls rookie Hadjar both crashed in separate incidents at Turn 2 on Sunday, with the former finding the wall when rain struck late in the Race, and the latter on the formation lap before the Grand Prix had even begun.

For Lawson, his Lap 47 retirement marked the end of a torrid debut weekend for the team, having also failed to escape from the first phase of Qualifying on Saturday – this after a reliability issue had forced him to sit out the final practice session.

“It was a difficult weekend for him,” conceded Red Bull Team Principal Horner.

Race Highlights: 2025 Australian Grand Prix

“We changed the car to put a bit more downforce on the car. It’s a very hard track to overtake at. We took a risk of leaving him out longer because he was out of the points and we thought, ‘you know what, roll the dice and maybe it will come right’ at exactly the point it started to rain more, so it’s difficult to blame him for that last bit.

“I think the one flash of light that he can take out of it is that on the dry tyres, he actually posted the second fastest lap time of the Grand Prix with a 22.9 versus Max’s 23.0 and Lando’s 22.1.

“So if there was one positive we can take, it was that his pace on the dry was not too bad.

“The problem is that missing P3, you’re on the back foot and then the pressure builds. He grabbed a brake on the second set of tyres and then the third, he was half a second up before another mistake there.

“I think next weekend will be tough because it’s a Sprint Race at a track that he’s not been to before, but he’s pretty resilient and this weekend wasn’t representative of what he’s capable of.”

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 16: Isack Hadjar of France driving the (6) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls — Hadjar's Australian Grand Prix was over before it even began after a spin on the formation lap

For Hadjar, the weekend had been a largely impressive first impression in F1, as he narrowly missed out on a top-10 berth in Qualifying. This made him the fastest rookie driver over a single lap, a position he had also held in two of the three practice sessions.

But a sudden loss of grip as he tapped the throttle at Turn 2 on the formation lap ensured that his debut would not be remembered for his turn of speed, but for his tearful pre-race exit that saw Anthony Hamilton console him in the paddock.

“It was quite heart-wrenching to see him so gutted,” reflected Horner. “His first Grand Prix.

“I think the positives that he needs to take out of it when he reflects on the weekend, he actually performed very well through the practices and the Qualifying.

“You forget that these guys are just kids really, and obviously, there’s a lot of emotion for him. But when he strips it back, there’s an awful lot of positives that he can take out of the weekend. He’s got many bright days ahead of him.”