Karun Chandhok says Liam Lawson has shown why Red Bull aren’t ‘a happy camp’ at Japan Grand Prix
· Yahoo Sports
Karun Chandhok believes Red Bull’s issues have become clear after Liam Lawson was able to match Max Verstappen’s lap times during practice for the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen was the fastest among the Red Bull drivers on Friday at Suzuka, but he only managed P10 in FP2, where Oscar Piastri of McLaren led the session. Verstappen was also 1.376 seconds off Piastri’s best time, a 1:30.133 lap.
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Lawson ended up P12 as Racing Bulls’ top driver, posting a best lap of 1:31.590, which left him 1.457s behind Piastri. Isack Hadjar managed only the 15th-fastest time for Red Bull, while Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad didn’t set a time due to a gearbox issue.
Both teams have faced mounting criticism this season over their performances compared to other constructors such as McLaren and Mercedes – especially with Ferrari currently leading both championships.
Liam Lawson’s close FP2 time to Max Verstappen highlights Red Bull’s struggles
Max Verstappen spent much of FP2 battling understeer at Suzuka, unable to get the front of his RB22 to respond the way he wanted. It was another frustrating session for Red Bull, and Karun Chandhok pointed out that Liam Lawson’s pace made their issues even more obvious.
Lawson’s best lap in the Racing Bulls VCARB 03 was just 0.081s slower than Verstappen’s, a gap that Chandhok believes highlights how far Red Bull have to go. The senior team shouldn’t be so close in performance to their junior outfit.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1, Chandhok said: “That’s what it looked like from trackside. The Red Bull, it just looked like he was chasing the front end, just having to wait, and wait, and wait. And we know Max, of any driver on the grid, that’s a balance that he really dislikes.
“The fact [that] he’s still three-tenths ahead of Isack Hadjar suggests that the car is not there. Lawson in the Racing Bulls, with all due respect to them, should not be within eight-hundredths of Max Verstappen in the top Red Bull car. So, that is not a happy camp.”
This wasn’t an isolated case either – it’s becoming more common for Racing Bulls drivers to match or even beat their Red Bull counterparts during practice sessions. After beating both Verstappen and Hadjar during race conditions in China last week despite starting behind both drivers.
Lawson finished P7 in Shanghai while Verstappen came home ninth. He also finished eighth ahead of Hadjar by over six seconds.
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