Liam Lawson must enter the 2025 season accepting that his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen is "unbeatable," according to team adviser Dr Helmut Marko.
The blunt advice comes after Red Bull finally dropped Sergio Perez for underperforming and brought in 23-year-old Lawson for the new season.
Despite Verstappen securing the drivers' title, Perez's struggles saw Red Bull slip to third in the 2024 constructors' championship.
"Our employees are paid bonuses based on our place in the constructors' championship," Marko told Servus TV. "There are tiers, and we are talking about decent amounts here.
"There was definitely disappointment in the factory when we only finished third behind McLaren and Ferrari."
Marko is open about Verstappen being the team's undisputed 'number 1'. When asked which title matters most to Red Bull, he replied: "The drivers' title.
"Red Bull is not a car manufacturer. For us, the person is the most important thing."
As such, Lawson is expected to stay within a few tenths of Verstappen and focus on gathering points as a reliable teammate, or in Marko's words a "points collector".
The 81-year-old noted that Lawson has injected fresh momentum into Red Bull following Perez's departure.
"There is a completely different atmosphere in the team now," he said. "We have a new wave of enthusiasm. Liam is still young and full of enthusiasm."
Yet Marko cautioned Lawson to temper that eagerness.
"He has to find his own way of working, and not think 'How can I beat Max?' That was the mistake of his predecessors, who all failed," he said.
"They simply couldn't accept that they were driving against someone who is unbeatable. Verstappen is unbeatable at the moment, and I think that will remain the case for the time being."
Marko believes Lawson has the temperament to succeed alongside Verstappen.
"Liam is a very down-to-earth person. New Zealanders are often very down-to-earth like that, and that's why we preferred him over Yuki Tsunoda," he said.
For his part, Lawson will hope his stint with Verstappen lasts long enough to cement his Formula 1 career.
He told GQ magazine that his parents sold their home to support his climb through the junior categories. "They still don't own a house," said Lawson, "because of me." body check tags ::
