Guenther Steiner said drivers “collapse” when compared to Max Verstappen, as his fifth Formula 1 team-mate Liam Lawson was dropped from the second Red Bull seat.
Red Bull has announced another driver swap in its roster, dropping Lawson to Racing Bulls and promoting Yuki Tsunoda to partner Verstappen ahead of his home race in Japan.
Lawson appeared to struggle in the opening two rounds of the 2025 F1 season, attaining multiple Q1 exits in qualifying and scoring zero points across Australia and China.
The Kiwi driver has so far suffered the worst fate of the crop of drivers who have taken up what some call the ‘cursed’ second Red Bull seat, not even making it to his third race.
Steiner, the former Haas Team Principal, told the Red Flags Podcast: “[Lawson’s struggles] mainly says how good Max is. That’s what it shows, how good that boy is.
“Checo [Sergio Perez] is a good driver, but he couldn’t do it in the beginning either.
“He was okay, and then he lost his mojo next to Max. Max is just so good.
“Everyone collapses a bit when they compare themselves to him.”
A quarter of the current grid have now been Verstappen’s team-mate at either Red Bull or the sister side, with Perez being the longest-serving between 2021 and 2024.
Since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure in 2018, Verstappen has been unchallenged, and the struggles attached to the second seat are becoming more amplified each time.
Red Bull ‘too much pressure’ for Lawson
Steiner claims that Lawson’s gap to Verstappen, despite the Dutchman’s talent, was alarming.
“If you are half a second slower than your team-mate, you are already much slower – but more than a second? That’s a real difference,” he said.
“And the other guy is always in the top four. That’s weird. That big difference would worry me.
“That he can’t beat him is understandable. But the gap is a second. A whole second.”
There is immense pressure in the second Red Bull seat. Having to partner a four-time champion is enough to worry a young driver, but to outperform the previous seat-fillers is bound to cause some anxiety.
Lawson had only been given two races to prove himself worthy of the Red Bull seat and was racing on two tracks he barely knew, in conditions that even veteran drivers struggled with.
“Lawson at Racing Bulls, when they put him in there, he did well,” Steiner continued.
“He delivered a respectable performance there. No problem there, but now in Red Bull it just doesn’t work out.
“Maybe he puts too much pressure on himself. Maybe that’s it. Just too much pressure.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen backs Liam Lawson to thrive in ‘easier to drive’ Racing Bulls car
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