Lawson faces serious struggles with Red Bull car in Chinese GP

Liam Lawson faces significant challenges adapting to the Red Bull RB21—Max Verstappen’s teammate encounters considerable difficulties at the Chinese GP.

Following a crash at the Australian GP a few weeks ago, the New Zealand driver was forced to start from last position in both the sprint and main race in Shanghai. Amid rumors of a driver-swap with Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda for the upcoming Japanese GP, Lawson’s radio communications during the race revealed serious car-related issues.

“I’ve got to get a handle of it. It was a messy session and had we not dealt with traffic and stuff like that, it might have been OK, but to be honest, it’s still not good enough to be having those issues,” Lawson explained to Sky Sports F1.

Throughout the race, Lawson reported various technical issues:

• Struggling with bumps on corner-entry

• Lack of grip during battles with other drivers

• Traction problems in low-speed corners

• Front-and-rear tire imbalance

• Difficulty controlling the car in final-lap situations

After the race conclusion, Lawson acknowledged that the car’s balance only lasted for one lap before experiencing a dramatic performance-drop—a situation that puts additional pressure on his position at Red Bull.