Christian Horner clarifies Liam Lawson Silverstone test after Sergio Perez ‘horrible’ British GP

Liam Lawson is understood to be negotiating with Williams over a possible race seat.

Christian Horner clarified the filming day test Liam Lawson took part in for Red Bull this week had been planned in for some time, though he admitted the British Grand Prix was a “horrible weekend” for Sergio Perez.

The scrutiny around Perez has grown as his form has dipped with Red Bull, with reserve driver Lawson taking part in a 200km run for the team earlier this week as part of his duties, and the 22-year-old looking to impress for a potential 2025 seat with one of their teams.

Christian Horner: Liam Lawson filming day has not ‘just sprung up’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Lawson has now taken part in his running with the team, doing so on Thursday, but when asked the test before it took place, Red Bull team principal Horner confirmed it had been booked in for a while and is part of his planned duties with the team.

“Those tests have been planned for some time so they’re not something that have just sprung up, they’ve been planned for a couple of months now,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 at Silverstone.

“Liam is our test and reserve driver, that’s his job.

“But Checo, it’s been a horrible weekend for him.”

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Perez finished the race two laps down last weekend, after going out in Q1 following a slide into the gravel at Copse and becoming beached, before a strategic gamble to move onto intermediate tyres in the hope of more rainfall early in the race that ultimately did not pay off.

Given the rate at which others are catching Red Bull, Horner warned this run of form for Perez needs to be stemmed sooner rather than later.

“He knows it’s unsustainable to not be scoring points,” Horner told media including PlanetF1.com after the race at Silverstone.

“We have to be scoring points in that car.

“He knows his role and target. Nobody is more eager than Checo to find his form again.”

In the immediate term, the next chance for Perez and Red Bull to do that will be at the Hungaroring next weekend, with the team still holding healthy leads in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings.

But with their rivals now closing up on them, Horner is unsure how the weekend will play out.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how we perform there,” he said.

“It could be hot. I think it’ll be the usual people that are quick at the moment [at the front].

“So yeah, it’s going to be an interesting venue, and I’m sure it will be very close once again.”

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