Red Bull boss protects Liam Lawson after "a tough couple of races" and won't talk about speculation

Liam Lawson, Sergio Pérez's replacement at Red Bull, got a quick promotion to Red Bull's main team from being a reserve driver for Red Bull's second team, despite being less experienced than Yuki Tsunoda, something that surprised some fans. And after two races, Lawson hasn't found his foot yet: zero points in the first two Grand Prix, finishing 15 in China (then promoted to 12 after the three disqualifications).

But Christian Horner, Red Bull's team boss, says to Formula1.com they have a duty to protect him: "He's a young guy, we've got a duty to look after him. We're going to do the best that we can to support him", saying that he is still a very capable driver that "for whatever reason, we're not seeing him able to deliver that at the moment".

However, he didn't deny rumours about being replaced before the Japanese GP, likely for Tsunoda, to save some chance for Red Bull to climb in the Constructor's Championship (they are third with 36 points, behind Mercedes with 57 and McLaren with 78 - all thanks to Max Verstappen). "I think everything is purely speculative at the moment". He explained that their goal in China, where Lawson started from the pit, was to get data from his performance over 56 laps. "We'll take that away, we'll have a good look at it, and as a group we'll do our best to support him".