Peter Bayer: Lawson won’t let our riders get lazy

Liam Lawson performed well in those five races last year when he replaced the injured Daniel Ricciardo, but was still without a contract for this season as the team opted to continue working with the experienced Australian.

Now the 22-year-old New Zealander serves as a reserve driver for two teams, Red Bull Racing and Visa RB, works on a simulator and comes to all stages of the championship, but since he is no longer considered a beginner, he cannot do more. even participate in training.

Rumors that Liam could already replace Ricciardo on the Miami podium, whose results so far leave much to be desired, were immediately refuted, including by Lawson’s management. At the same time, its potential is highly valued, as highlighted by Peter Bayer, Executive Director of Visa RB.

“Let’s start with the fact that he is an excellent reserve driver,” Speedcafe quotes Bayer. – He claims places in both teams and does not let the riders who now occupy them be lazy. At the same time we try to give him the opportunity to work on the track as much as possible, especially in January at Imola he drove our old car. We would like to organize such tests for him again. In general, we try to give him as much time on the court as we can afford.

Liam also runs simulator sessions and we consider him an important part of the team – I think he is. He continues his professional training path, but since he is already ready for Formula 1 and showed what he is capable of last year, it is logical that Lawson puts some pressure on Red Bull.

An interesting situation has arisen: both he and the company management demand results from us to a certain extent, so I obviously agree that this puts some pressure on our riders. However, I don’t think this pressure is stronger than in any other team…”