Horner addresses Liam Lawson and Co. in telling Red Bull admission

Christian Horner claims that Liam Lawson, as well as Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, were promoted “too soon” to Red Bull Racing.

Horner held these concerns live in the moment, but spoke of a feeling within Red Bull that swift promotions needed to happen to justify the existence of the Red Bull Junior Team, headed by Helmut Marko until the end of last year.

Christian Horner says Liam Lawson and more promoted too quickly

Red Bull boasts arguably the most successful Formula 1 driver academy of all-time. It has produced multi-time world champions in the forms of Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz emerged from the Red Bull machine to become multiple grand prix winners.

The Red Bull roots spread wider across the current grid, various graduates having rebounded from setbacks along the way.

Gasly, Albon and Lawson are all F1 2026 examples of drivers who came back from the agony of demotion from Red Bull Racing.

Lawson’s case was particularly brutal, as he was given only two races at the start of 2025 before being sent back to Red Bull’s junior F1 team, Racing Bulls, where he continues to thrive today.

“Some of these drivers were arriving too soon,” Horner admitted on the High Performance Racing podcast.

“I didn’t completely agree with the speed at which they were arriving into Red Bull Racing, but there was a determination to have drivers from the Red Bull Junior pool, because I think, in Helmut’s mind, it didn’t justify its existence if we weren’t quickly promoting young drivers, which I felt sometimes was too soon in their development.

“I think Alex was too soon. I think Gasly was too soon. I think Lawson was too soon. These guys, they needed more time to evolve and develop.

“I mean, how how long did George Russell have in a difficult Williams before getting that call-up. They’re more rounded by the time they arrive.”

Focusing in on Gasly, who lasted half the 2019 season, and Lawson, just two races, Horner said he could visibly see what the pressure was doing to them.

Asked if he could have done more to protect Red Bull’s young drivers, Horner said: “I think the feeling was that Red Bull was in a privileged position of having four seats, had the two teams, so none of those drivers were just dropped.

“Gasly went back into Racing Bulls, was able to demonstrate value and go to another team.

“Albon, I worked very hard and fought very hard to get him that drive with Williams. We contributed financially to getting him that drive.

“Liam obviously having the ability to step back into that team. [Daniil] Kvyat at the same.

“But the reality was, they’d all arrived there too soon. They’d had either a year or less than a year’s of Formula 1 experience, and then being put up into a lead team, in a difficult car, against a generational talent, that was almost impossible for them to succeed in that environment.

“And of course, suddenly you step into a top team, the scrutiny on you is way more. The pressure goes up, and you could see, visibly see, that they were feeling that pressure.

“Whether it was Pierre, I remember getting lapped in Austria and at the Hungarian Grand Prix two races in a row, and he was broken in those races.

“Liam at the beginning of last year, you could see the toll that it was taking on them and for me, it was because they were arriving there too quickly.”

Horner opened up on how he tried to help those struggling drivers.

“You just try and talk with them and try and make sure that there was a parachute on the way down.

“Because I think in certain elements, if they hadn’t made it in Red Bull Racing, it was like, ‘Okay, there’s a line through them.'”

More on Liam Lawson from PlanetF1.com

Liam Lawson lauds Racing Bulls ahead of F1 2027 decision

Liam Lawson to make on-stage debut at US Grand Prix

Asked if he was pointing to Marko with that comment, he replied: “Look, Helmut’s quite binary. His view was: if you can’t take the pressure, you’re never going to succeed.

“And of course, on one hand, he’s right, and the two guys that were able to cope with that pressure both became world champions, in Sebastian and Max.

“But it was, in one hand, hugely generous what Red Bull were doing, but it was quite brutal in terms of its execution, that you were the flavour of the month until you weren’t, as it was.”

Read next: Horner claims Max Verstappen ‘needs’ conversation impacting Red Bull still