"Lawson is unlikely against Verstappen, that's why we chose him"

Helmut Marko made it clear what they need Liam Lawson for. Well, nothing more than a stable second driver whose job will be to lose first...

Well, anyone who thought that Lawson hit the jackpot with the Red Bull Racing seat should savor the following lines:

"Despite his limited F1 experience, Liam Lawson was mentally the strongest among our junior drivers. No one can beat Max Verstappen; that’s a heavy burden, and you have to accept it. Lawson is capable of this, and he has great potential for development. When we compare him to Yuki Tsunoda, Yuki is clearly the faster driver, but he lacks the mentioned qualities. He makes unnecessary mistakes and accidents, struggles to manage his outbursts, and traditionally 'slows down' during those times. With these factors, you start with an even greater handicap in a team where the current world champion is on the other side of the pit wall.

This would have been too much for Tsunoda; he wouldn't have been able to process emotionally that he is at a disadvantage, that he cannot win. We expect Lawson to be within three tenths of Verstappen in both qualifying and races. According to our calculations, this will be just enough to gather a sufficient amount of points in the constructors' championship. We expect continuous improvement from him according to his abilities." - Marko made it clear about Liam Lawson's place within the Red Bull team.