Liam Lawson tackles first Australian Grand Prix on Red Bull debut
Kiwi Liam Lawson will be out to prove himself as he tackles the Australian Grand Prix for the first time, while also on debut for Red Bull.
MELBOURNE–Despite his time in the Formula 1 field so far, the Australian Grand Prix comes with a couple of firsts for Liam Lawson.
The Kiwi will be racing at Albert Park for the first time, but more importantly, the pressure will be on as he makes his debut on Red Bull F1 team alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen.
"It's so close to home, so it feels like a home race for me," said the Kiwi.
"It’s the start of the season, a big event and a new track for me so I’m excited to get going. It’s been my first official pre-season in Formula One, so it's nice to bring all the hard work we've done into Melbourne for this weekend."
"The simulator work we've done has been really important, but also the time I've spent with the engineers over the winter. It's a new crew for me, so I wanted to build relationships with the team ahead of the start of the campaign."
While not exactly representative, indicative times from testing put the Red Bull on level second-fastest alongside Ferrari, behind constructors' champions McLaren.
"I’m well aware it will be very tough but we’re all pushing in the same direction to try and be the best," said Lawson.
His role at the team, if not fighting alongside Verstappen for race wins, will be to consolidate the best results possible to take the fight back to McLaren for the teams' standings.
"I'll give one hundred percent all season for the team and the fans - that starts in Melbourne this weekend."
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