Bayer: Very quickly he returned to being the old Liam Lawson

New Zealander Lawson was promoted to the main Red Bull Formula 1 team after the departure of underperforming Mexican driver Sergio Perez but lasted only two races before being demoted back to sister team Racing Bulls in a straight swap with Yuki Tsunoda.

Although the 23-year-old has yet to score a point in four races this season, while French rookie teammate Isack Hadjar has already opened his account, team chief executive Bayer remained positive at the Saudi Grand Prix.

Speaking about Lawson’s return to the Faenza-based team, the Austrian said: “I think it took a moment for him to digest. The first time I saw him when he came to Italy, he looked a bit sad. Honestly, that’s how I perceived him. He was a bit puzzled with everything that happened very quickly.

“But also, at the same time, he knew the people, the tools, the set-up. And I really felt that very quickly he returned to being the old Liam. He’s a great racer, somebody that has great humour, and that’s what we see now again,” said Bayer.

After Friday's FP2 session, Lawson reflected on his day: “FP1 was busy, but it was nice to drive an F1 car here as it’s the first time I’ve done that. The track lives up to the hype, it was very fast, very cool. We had a productive day and tried a lot of different things.

“Tyres-wise, we’ll try and learn what we can before tomorrow. It’s hard to tell how we’re doing pace-wise as we still need to find some time relative to some of our competitors in the midfield. Alpine and Williams were strong today, so we need to make a step, but that’s what we’re working on hard now,” added Lawson, who ended the day P14.

His Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar, who has been a standout among the rookies, reported: “It was hard to get the balance together today. I feel like there is still room for improvement, which is reassuring because I know it’s not the best we can do.

“It’s the fastest street circuit that exists, so it requires a lot of focus. It’s really tough but really enjoyable. I will definitely be better after a night of sleep. These cars give you so much confidence. We will be fighting for Q3 tomorrow, but making it is a different story,” said Hadjar, who was P12 on the timesheets—just over a tenth faster than Lawson.