‘It just didn’t work’ – Lawson rues set-up changes in ‘extremely tough’ Chinese GP as pressure mounts

Liam Lawson endured another challenging outing for Red Bull at the Chinese Grand Prix as he failed to make any significant progress to infiltrate the points-paying positions.

In Qualifying for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix, the New Zealander found himself at the bottom of the order in 20th – while he made some headway during the Sprint, surging through the field to P14, there were hopes he could do even more in Sunday’s 56-lap race despite another lowly starting slot.

Ahead of the race Red Bull made some adjustments to the set-up on Lawson’s car under Parc Ferme conditions, which relegated him to a pit lane start, with the intention to give him a car that would suit him more favourably.

However, while several drivers – most notably the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman – took advantage of the unanticipated tyre life to charge into the top 10, the 23-year-old never came close to the points and finished the race in P15, which eventually became P12 following the disqualifications of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly.

Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman battle for track position during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 23, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) — Lawson got stuck into some entertaining on-track battles in China

Asked about whether the lack of improvement in the Grand Prix surprised him, Lawson said: “To be honest, we were even more competitive in yesterday’s Sprint. We were able to overtake cars and move forward.

“It’s just we tried something with the set-up to learn something today. It was quite a big step and unfortunately it just didn’t work.

“A lot to learn from this weekend – a lot for me personally to get on top of as well. It’s just been extremely tough.”

Lawson has already begun to come under pressure following his promotion from Racing Bulls to Red Bull, especially as his team mate Max Verstappen has continued to perform at the top end of the field – the reigning World Champion finishing fourth in China.

Dr Helmut Marko, Liam Lawson, and Laurent Mekies talk after the tribute to the late Eddie Jordan at Shanghai International Circuit on March 23, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Sutton - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images) — Lawson was promoted to Red Bull following a handful of strong performances for their sister team last season

He has also faced comparisons to his fellow rookie drivers, and the New Zealander is well aware that, at a frontrunning team such as Red Bull, he is expected to start putting points on the board as they look to reclaim the Teams’ Championship.

“I’d love to say I just need more time driving the car but obviously we don’t really have that,” Lawson explained. “Fortunately we go to a track that I know [next] and it’s a track that I like.

“I’ll be spending this week going very heavily into absolutely everything to try and obviously do a better job.”