Lawson crossed the line almost a lap behind race winner Oscar Piastri and two seconds behind Racing Bulls recruit Isack Hadjar.
By contrast, Max Verstappen raced his way to fourth, pulling off a late-race pass on Charles Leclerc to minimise the damage at what was clearly a weaker event for Red Bull.
Lawson started the race from the pit lane and ran a contra strategy throughout the race in China.
He started on the hards before switching onto the mediums, the opposite of what the bulk of the field opted to do.
Red Bull also put him on a two-stop strategy, an option that didn’t net much in the way of results for any of those who took it.
Combine that with the high degradation seen in Shanghai following its resurfacing, and the following was difficult, let alone passing, and Lawson’s woes were compounded.
He crossed the line a lowly 16th, elevated to 15th immediately post-race after Jack Doohan copped a 10-second penalty, and eventually to 12th once Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Pierre Gasly were excluded for technical breaches.
The result marked the second consecutive weekend where the promising Kiwi has underdelivered, heightening speculation that he could soon be ousted from the Red Bull seat.
“I don’t really have time to test it and get used to it, but I need to figure it out,” Lawson said after the Chinese Grand Prix.
“It’s not something I’m enjoying, but I’m honestly working as hard as I can to get on top of it.”
After two tough weekends, there are suggestions in some corners that Yuki Tsunoda could replace the flagging Kiwi from the Japanese Grand Prix.
That is likely a little too soon, but highlights the urgent need for Lawson to turn his fortunes around.
Tsunoda, by contrast, is in a rich vein of form, and the Racing Bulls he is driving has proved itself a capable car.; that he finished 16th in China was a result of a front wing failure – a manufacturing defect – and not driver error.
Switching its drivers now would be a brutal decision, though Red Bull does have a long history with such calls.
Indeed, the argument can be made that in 2024 it far too patient with Sergio Perez and, as a result, the team’s fortunes suffered more than they otherwise might have.
But equally there is a claim to be made for Lawson simply needing more time given the specifics of the opening two events.
In Australia, his practice running was compromised with a power unit issue on Saturday, leaving him without a soft tyre run heading into Qualifying.
One can therefore understand how the young New Zealander made mistakes on his push laps and was eliminated in Q1.
In the race, mixed conditions made it largely unrepresentative, and there was little shame in crashing; Fernando Alonso crashed out, so too Carlos Sainz, while both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri sprayed it wide at points.
In China, the Sprint format again left Lawson compromised ahead of the meaningful running.
He had just an hour to get on top of an uncomfortable car at a venue he’d never visited before ahead of being thrust into the action.
Again, it’s understandable that he struggled in Sprint Qualifying, though his pace in the 19-lap Sprint was an improvement.
But then he failed to deliver in Qualifying itself as he again struggled to get the tyres working – a sign of his inexperience.
His race on Sunday was uninspiring and his final position a result of strategy and misfortune for others more than a reflection of his performance behind the wheel.
The Red Bull is a tricky car, even Verstappen was anonymous for much of Sunday’s race, the RB21 overshadowed by McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari for much of the 56 lap race.
Lawson isn’t using that as an excuse. He’s a professional racing driver and acknowledges that he should be able to adapt to the car – after all, Max can.
The problem is, there’s precious little that can be done now the season has started.
“I don’t have time to test the car and get used to it,” Lawson said.
“We’re in the season already so each race we’re losing points.
“That’s more or less what I mean when I don’t have time.
“I’m also not stupid and I know that I’m here to perform and if I’m not doing that, I’m not going to be around.”
In all this, there is an elephant in the room; if adapting to Formula 1 is so difficult, how did Kimi Antonelli get to fourth in Melbourne? And what about Isack Hadjar reaching Qualifying 3 in China?
Their performances stand in contrast to Lawson’s and underscore the problem he creates for Red Bull which now finds itself in the same position just two races into the 2025 season as it ended 2024 with; what does it do with its second car and when – or if – does it pull the trigger?
It’s a significant problem for Red Bull and not one with an easy answer, but it’s one that it could probably have done more to avoid.
Lawson started the 2025 F1 campaign with only 11 races to his name, those spread across two seasons.
He is immensely inexperienced and has been thrust into the squad’s top team faster than any driver in Red Bull’s history.
Yet despite that, he has been part of the team for several seasons.
He has been reserve driver since the start of 2023 and even had Friday practice outings in 2022 where he drove for AlphaTauri on two occasions and Red Bull in Abu Dhabi.
The evidence shows Lawson was ready for a full-time drive in 2023 but was overlooked for Nyck de Vries and was overlooked again when Daniel Ricciardo got the nod in place of the beleaguered Belgian mid-season.
Had Lawson been promoted on either of those two occasions, or even for the 2024 season, both he and the team would have far more experience and knowledge of his potential.
Instead, Lawson’s brief F1 career has been rushed and he finds himself staring down the barrel of an uncertain future after just two races of 2025.
Of course, Lawson must accept the his failings in this scenario but Red Bull is not blameless.
The uncertainty which surrounds the 22-year-old as the F1 circus leaves China is one largely of Red Bull’s making, one that can arguably be traced back to the de Vries decision.
But while that is now water under the bridge, the dilemma at hand is whether Lawson is the right man for the job, or at what point is the decision made that he’s not?
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