How the choice for Lawson and Hadjar emerged at Red Bull

In early 2024, the bomb burst within Red Bull Racing due to allegations against Christian Horner. Red Bull Racing's team boss was accused of transgressive behaviour, causing unrest within the team.

Horner stayed put and was supported mainly by Thai major shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya. The Austrian side of Red Bull was less happy about Horner staying on, but they no longer had full control since the death of Dietrich Mateschitz. Mateschitz had full control of Red Bull's sporting decisions, despite the 49% stake that Red Bull Austria actually has. With the Austrian billionaire's death, Austria lost control of the sports branch, including Red Bull Racing.

Marko no longer had a say

As a result, Horner could not be worked out of the team without Thai approval. No matter how loudly some people shouted that Horner could not continue, Horner simply stayed in place. Horner in turn made an attempt to work Helmut Marko out of the team. An attempt that failed, mainly because Verstappen said he would leave the team if Marko was kicked out. Horner could not risk losing his star driver.

Although the public battle was in 2024, what was going on was already known internally in late 2023. Horner would draw more and more power to himself, increasingly sidelining Marko and his Red Bull Junior Team. Marko, who was Mateschitz's right-hand man for years, no longer had anything to say about the drivers chosen for the Red Bull teams.

This was also evident in early 2024, when Red Bull Racing kept on Sergio Perez and Visa Cash App RB stuck with Daniel Ricciardo. Marko had wanted to put Lawson in the car by then, but Horner wanted to give Ricciardo another chance.

This was a big problem for the Red Bull squad. Lawson was the great talent from that junior team, but he was not given a real chance. Despite good performances at his 2023 replacement for Ricciardo, he was not pushed through for a permanent seat. With Yuki Tsunoda in the other car, a driver who owes his seat mainly to the deal with Honda, this meant there was no place for Red Bull talent.

Choice for Red Bull talent

In mid-2024, however, a turnaround took place. Helmut Marko's contract was renewed. Essential for both parties. After all, Marko had a so-called side letter in his contract. That side letter stated that if Marko left Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen could also leave. In the new deal, this was scrapped from Marko's contract, but of course there was something in return.

The deal ensures that Max Verstappen can no longer walk out the door at Red Bull Racing for free, but it also clearly has an effect on the decisions being made. Marko may no longer have the power he used to have under Mateschitz, as Perez and Ricciardo would have been out earlier. However, Marko does have some say within the team again, as evidenced by the choice of Lawson and Hadjar.

Still, the power struggle has affected Lawson's development path. Whereas he could and should have actually gained a year or maybe two of experience at Racing Bulls, he now has only 11 Grands Prix to his name before stepping in at Red Bull Racing. Maybe it works out well, but it is certainly not ideal preparation.

An ideal intermediate pawn would have been Carlos Sainz. With much more experience, he too was free on the market to serve as a bridge period to Lawson, but back then Perez's contract was renewed because he had 'started the season so well'. But why Horner made that choice was detailed earlier.