Liam Lawson handed Racing Bulls F1 sack warning

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Juan Pablo Montoya "wouldn't be surprised" to see Liam Lawson dropped by Racing Bulls mid-season, having already suffered a demotion from Red Bull this term. The seven-time grand prix winner believes the Milton Keynes squad could turn to Arvid Lindblad to partner Isack Hadjar, if the New Zealander cannot improve his current form. Having made the call to swap Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda after two dismal rounds, the six-time constructors' champions will be closely monitoring the 23-year-old, who has been out-performed by his rookie team-mate since returning to Racing Bulls. "I'll tell you the truth. If Liam doesn't improve any further, I wouldn't be surprised if they [Racing Bulls] put Lindblad in at some point," Montoya said to AS . "Not at all. I wouldn't be a little surprised." "Honestly, Liam has been given the green light last year and has proven that he has what it takes to do a good job. They gave him the Red Bull seat, and he won it. "The Red Bull situation was complicated and I think it took a very strong blow to his liver, and he needs a lot of psychological treatment after that." Red Bull like Alpine Lindblad, having already secured the requisite FIA super licence points required to race in F1, despite still only being 17 years of age and in the midst of his first F2 season, is next driver up in the Red Bull junior programme. Whether the motorsport governing body were to grant him an exception remains to be seen, but he does not turn 18 until August this year. Although Ayumu Iwasa is also waiting in the wings, the Briton is highly-touted and has been marked as a Racing Bulls driver in waiting. Montoya likened the situation in Milton Keynes to the one in Enstone, where Alpine has just handed Franco Colapinto a five-round audition for Jack Doohan's seat. "If he [Lawson] doesn't recover soon, I'm sure Red Bull will start looking elsewhere because that's how they work," the Colombian said to elaborate. "It's Red Bull, it's a bit like what's happening with Alpine right now. Whenever Franco [Colapinto] doesn't do well, the same thing will happen."