Juan Pablo Montoya Urges Red Bull to Trust Liam Lawson for Madrid

Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Red Bull to resist the temptation of a quick fix and keep faith with Liam Lawson for Madrid, warning that rushing Isack Hadjar back could prove a costly misstep.

Lawson was thrown into the deep end at Zandvoort, drafted in at the last minute for the Dutch Grand Prix after Hadjar picked up a wrist injury over the summer break. With barely any preparation and just a single practice session, the New Zealander climbed into the Red Bull and went wheel-to-wheel with Max Verstappen in qualifying – and held his own.

He then converted that pace into points, banking six with a composed drive to seventh place. No drama, no big errors, just a clean, sharp weekend under pressure.

While Lawson stepped up to the senior Red Bull, the reshuffle pushed reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda into Lawson’s usual Racing Bulls seat alongside Arvid Lindblad. Tsunoda, too, made his case in style.

“Yuki showed the pace he had in the race, passing people, the aggression,” Montoya said on F1 TV’s Weekend Warm-Up, clearly impressed. “I think everything that you wanted to see out of a driver. If you're looking for drivers in F1, he delivered. He did the job. He didn't make mistakes. He didn't put a wheel wrong, and it was really good to see.”

That performance only strengthens Montoya’s broader point: Red Bull’s pool of talent is doing exactly what the system demands. The danger now lies not in lack of options, but in making the wrong call too soon.

Lawson will continue to deputise at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, another high-pressure stage on which he can underline his credentials. Montoya believes that should not be the end of it.

“With Liam, if I were Red Bull, especially going into Madrid next week, I would go, ‘Hey, let's be smart. We're going to get a couple more weeks of recovery, and we'll prepare Liam properly for Madrid because it's a new track for everybody.’”

That last point matters. The Spanish Grand Prix’s move to Madrid and the new Madring circuit, which hosts its first Formula 1 race from 11–13 September, wipes away much of the usual advantage of experience. No one arrives with a bank of data or a decade of reference laps. It levels the field – and makes continuity in the cockpit far more valuable than it might look on paper.

Lawson has already turned that opportunity into a foothold. He sits ninth in the drivers’ standings on 49 points. Hadjar, despite his lay-off, remains ahead in eighth with 68 points, while Verstappen holds sixth on 112. Out in front, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli has blown the title race wide open with 242 points, setting a relentless benchmark the rest are still chasing.

For Red Bull, the question is not who their long-term star might be – the system keeps throwing up candidates – but how they manage the next few weeks. A fully fit Hadjar will want his seat back. Lawson has done nothing to deserve stepping aside. Madrid’s Madring will not forgive a driver still nursing an injury or shaking off rust.

The calendar will move on quickly. The decision in front of Red Bull might not decide the championship, but it could say a lot about how ruthlessly, and how wisely, they intend to play this new phase of the season.