Red Bull urged to make ‘smart’ Liam Lawson decision for Spanish Grand Prix
Red Bull should continue with Liam Lawson at the Madring says Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Red Bull to continue with Liam Lawson for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring and give Isack Hadjar more time to recover from his wrist injury.
Hadjar was sidelined ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix after fracturing his wrist, reportedly while boxing a punching bag as part of his fitness regime.
Juan Pablo Montoya wants Liam Lawson to replace Isack Hadjar in Madrid
Red Bull has confirmed that Liam Lawson will remain with the team for the Spanish Grand Prix since this article was published
The Frenchman was replaced by Lawson at Zandvoort, where the New Zealander brought the RB22 home in seventh place.
He continued with Red Bull at the Italian Grand Prix after the team said that it would “take no unnecessary risks” with Hadjar’s return to competition.
Lawson, though, wasn’t informed until Wednesday, 48 hours before the weekend’s opening practice session, that he would be driving the Red Bull F1 car at Monza.
“Only being on Wednesday, it felt quite late,” Lawson told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets ahead of the race weekend.”But we had enough time to still do a simulator session and normal prep for the weekend.”
Touching on the uncertainty about which car he would race, he said: “Been doing both just to try and stay ready for both. Obviously, both teams, both cars to know.
“They’re very different to drive, so it’s not the easiest thing going between the two, even just in the simulator. That’s been the biggest challenge.
“But it was nice to finally have an answer, from Wednesday, to know that I can basically just put all my focus onto this car.”
Lawson wasn’t able to add to his points tally at Monza where he started from the pit lane after Red Bull initially changed engine components before then breaking parc ferme conditions to change the RB22’s set-up.
It was an eventual race for the New Zealander who clashed with Nico Hulkenberg after a red flag restart and had to pit for a new mirror, which cost him 30 seconds. He finished down in 14th place.
Lawson, though, may yet have a third outing in the RB22.
Once again there’s a short turnaround between races with the drivers scheduled to be back on track on Friday for the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at the new Madring circuit.
As such, Montoya reckons Red Bull should make the call now to continue with Lawson.
That would not only optimise his preparations ahead of F1’s first visit to the Madring, but it would also give Hadjar more time to heal as Formula 1 has a weekend off after Spain.
“With Liam, if I were Red Bull, especially going into Madrid next week, I would go, ‘Hey, let’s be smart. We’re going to get a couple more weeks of recovery, and we’ll prepare Liam properly for Madrid because it’s a new track for everybody,'” the former F1 driver told F1TV.
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He believes Red Bull’s decision has been made easier by reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda performing in Racing Bulls’ VCARB 03.
“Yuki showed the pace he had in the race [at Zandvoort], passing people, the aggression,” said Montoya. “I think everything that you wanted to see out of a driver.
“If you’re looking for drivers in F1, he delivered. He did the job. He didn’t make mistakes. He didn’t put a wheel wrong, and it was really good to see.”
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has acknowledged that the short turnaround between Monza and the Madring could see Lawson continue in the RB22 to give Hadjar more time to recover.
“Madrid is a few days from now, so that’s tricky,” Mekies told Canal+.
“We’ll re-evaluate his situation, but targeting Madrid probably is tricky. But we’re taking things one race at a time and we’re looking at it together in a more rational way.
“Again, the priority, what will influence our decision, is being sure he returns at 100 perc ent and with zero risks for his future.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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