On Thursday Liam Lawson will climb into the RB20 to take the observe at Silverstone. The session is one among Crimson Bull’s allotted “filming” days for the 2024 season, and the second such program the workforce has carried out this yr.
Nevertheless it comes as questions persist about their driver lineup for the second half of the season.
Lawson’s Silverstone shakedown of the RB20 was beforehand scheduled and a part of Lawson’s reserve duties with the workforce, and never lately added to Crimson Bull’s calendar. However the timing couldn’t be worse from a hypothesis standpoint, because it comes on the heels of a tough tripleheader for Sergio Pérez that has renewed concern that the Crimson Bull driver may very well be dropped from the workforce as Crimson Bull fends off challenges atop the Method 1 grid.
Over the three races of the tripleheader, Pérez banked simply 11 factors and was outscored by Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg who added 16 to his account over the identical stretch. That has led to some voices across the sport questioning if Pérez will nonetheless be within the RB20 following the summer season break. “They’ll’t let it go on eternally. If on the subsequent race he doesn’t rating factors once more, quickly sufficient, they should get him out of the automobile and put another person in,” mentioned Jenson Button following the British Grand Prix. “It’s not a pleasant feeling for a driver. It’s robust. For a driver it’s horrible however for them the constructors’ is necessary.”
Crimson Bull Crew Principal Christian Horner assured the media final weekend that the checks had been deliberate for months prematurely, and never simply added to the schedule on account of Pérez’s kind.
“These checks have been deliberate for a while in order that they’re not one thing which have simply sprung up, they’ve been deliberate for a few months now,” mentioned Horner to Sky Sports activities F1 following the British Grand Prix.
Nonetheless, Horner additionally went on to say that Pérez’s present kind is “unsustainable” if Crimson Bull goes to mount a profitable title protection.
“[Pérez] is aware of it’s unsustainable to not be scoring factors – we’ve got to be scoring factors in that automobile, and he is aware of that,” mentioned Horner after the British Grand Prix. “He is aware of his position and his goal, so no one is extra keen than Checo to search out his kind once more.
“It’s one thing we’re aware of, that to win the Constructors’ Championship you want each vehicles scoring.”
The Crimson Bull boss went on to notice that the strain is barely growing on Pérez, on account of his “underdelivering” within the RB20.
“Checo, in fact, he’s underneath strain – that’s regular in Method 1 – however once you’re underdelivering, that strain solely mounts, and he’s conscious of that,” added Horner on Sunday. “He is aware of that.”
Crimson Bull thought they have been placing questions on Pérez’s future to mattress with the brand new contract that was introduced forward of the Canadian Grand Prix. However this run of poor kind has solely seen these questions renewed, whereas groups akin to Ferrari, McLaren, and lately Mercedes have put continued strain on your complete workforce on the prime of the grid.
And now Lawson is climbing into the RB20.
How handy.
