Juan Pablo Montoya Backs Liam Lawson for Spanish Grand Prix
Juan Pablo Montoya has urged Red Bull to resist the temptation of a quick fix and keep faith with Liam Lawson for next week’s first-ever Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, warning that rushing Isack Hadjar back could be a costly gamble.
Lawson was drafted in at the eleventh hour for the Dutch Grand Prix after Hadjar suffered a wrist injury during the summer break. The reshuffle pushed reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda into Lawson’s usual Racing Bulls seat alongside Arvid Lindblad, leaving the New Zealander to jump straight into the senior Red Bull with barely any preparation.
One practice session. A new weekend rhythm. And Max Verstappen on the other side of the garage.
Lawson didn’t flinch.
He ran Verstappen close in qualifying, then converted that speed into a composed drive to seventh place and six valuable points. For a stand-in with almost no build-up, it was the kind of performance that tends to linger in the minds of team bosses.
Montoya has seen enough to argue Red Bull should extend Lawson’s run beyond this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza and into Madrid’s debut race at the new Madring circuit.
Speaking on F1 TV’s Weekend Warm-Up, the former Grand Prix winner highlighted Tsunoda’s display as proof that the Red Bull camp is already delivering under pressure.
“Yuki showed the pace he had in the race, passing people, the aggression. I think everything that you wanted to see out of a driver. If you're looking for drivers in F1, he delivered. He did the job. He didn't make mistakes. He didn't put a wheel wrong, and it was really good to see,” Montoya said.
Then he turned to Lawson – and to Madrid.
“With Liam, if I were Red Bull, especially going into Madrid next week, I would go, 'Hey, let's be smart. We're going to get a couple more weeks of recovery, and we'll prepare Liam properly for Madrid because it's a new track for everybody.'”
That is the crux of Montoya’s argument. Madring is an unknown. No historic data. No bank of driver references. Everyone starts from zero, which makes stability in the cockpit far more valuable than forcing an injured Hadjar back into the car just to restore the usual line-up.
On paper, Red Bull’s internal standings still favour Hadjar. He sits eighth in the drivers’ championship on 68 points, with Lawson ninth on 49 and Verstappen sixth on 112. Out front, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli has turned the title race into a one-man charge, leading the way with 242 points.
Yet form is only part of the story. Momentum matters, and Lawson has it.
Madrid, scheduled for 11–13 September, will be the first time the grid rolls out at the Madring. New walls, new braking points, new risks. It is exactly the kind of weekend where a calm, recently race-hardened stand-in can thrive while a recovering driver fights his own body as much as the stopwatch.
Red Bull now face a familiar kind of decision: trust the numbers on the season, or trust the feel of a driver who has just stepped in and delivered. With a brand-new circuit waiting and the championship picture already tilting towards Antonelli, how bold are they prepared to be?
