Lawson laments ‘tough weekend’ after failed slick tyre gamble in Australia

Liam Lawson endured a torrid debut weekend with Red Bull at the Australian Grand Prix before a late crash in the race compounded his pain.

Lawson replaced Sergio Perez at Red Bull for the 2025 season but was unable to deliver an improved number two performance alongside Max Verstappen in Australia.

READ MORE: Norris beats Verstappen to victory in dramatic Australian GP opener amid late-race chaos

After dropping out of qualifying in the first phase on Saturday, he started Sunday’s Grand Prix from the pit lane, ahead of only Haas driver Ollie Bearman, due to set-up changes made to his car.

Rather than climb the field, however, Lawson remained mired towards the foot of the order, before a late heavy rain shower shuffled the drivers as they pitted to fit the intermediate Pirelli compound.

Seizing the opportunity to gain positions, Lawson remained on the track on his medium slicks, hoping to see out the shower and reap the rewards as the track dried. But with more rain falling than expected, he was helpless to keep his Red Bull out of the wall at Turn 2 when, on Lap 47, he spun up the rears and slid to the scene of the incident.

“We took a chance, hoping that at least half of the track would stay dry,” he explained. “We knew that sector three was bad, but we thought that sector one would stay a bit drier, so we carried on. Unfortunately, it was bucketing down with rain.

READ MORE: Verstappen reflects on late-race Norris battle and ‘spicy’ tyre gamble as he hails ‘decent starting point’ in Australia

“At that point, to be honest, I’d backed out of pushing because it was so wet. I was just trying to stay on the track. But obviously, it’s not ideal.”

Asked if he had been surprised by his lack of progress to that point, he added: “Yeah, we were really struggling to be honest. I had a lot of tyre issues with the front early on in the race, so it’s just been a tough weekend.”

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