Lawson was ‘sad and puzzled’ after Red Bull dropped him – Bayer

Liam Lawson found it difficult to comprehend Red Bull’s decision to drop him just two rounds into his first season with them, according to Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer.

Red Bull demoted Lawson to Racing Bulls, the team he drove for at the end of last year, prior to the Japanese Grand Prix. He failed to progress beyond the first round of qualifying or score points in both grands prix he started for the team and struggled badly with the car’s handling on his final appearance in Shanghai.

The following week Red Bull announced Lawson would return to Racing Bulls. “It took a moment for him to digest it,” said Bayer.

“The first time I saw him when he came to Italy, he looked a bit sad, honestly, that’s how I perceived him when he came in. He was a bit puzzled with everything that happened very quickly.”

However Lawson quickly found his feet again at his former team, said Bayer. “He knew the people, he knew all the tools, all the set-up and I really felt that very quickly he was returning to the old Liam.

“He’s a great racer, he is somebody that has great humour and that’s what we see now again.”

Although Lawson remains yet to score a point this year, the team was encouraged by his performance at the last round.

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“He showed some pace last week in Bahrain,” said Bayer. “In Q1 I think he was having sector times [close] to Isack in sector one and sector three, so we’re confident that we’ll have a good racing campaign from here.”

Lawson’s start to practice did not go entirely smoothly as he was given a formal warning and reprimand for twice crossing the painted area which divides the track from the pit lane. The stewards noted the team failed to warn him after the first infringement was communicated to them.

“It was made clear in the event notes that no part of the tyre must cross the line in any direction,” said the stewards. “There is no doubt that this prohibition was breached [twice].

“We checked the team radio and it appears that despite the notification that the alleged breach was noted by race control at 16:48:30, the driver was not warned of this.

“There were at least three laps in between the first infringement and the second where the team could have reminded the driver of the prohibition in the race director’s event notes and it appears that they did not do so. This was confirmed by the team representative during the hearing. He said that the team chose not to inform the driver as he was on a ‘push’ lap and the second infringement happened already before they ultimately warned him when he returned to the garage.

“Notwithstanding the team’s decision not to warn the driver, the driver ought to know what is in the event notes and Lawson confirmed that he did know of the prohibition.”

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