John MacDonald: Duty of care? Do me a favour, Christian

Some people think a 90-day trial for new workers is tough, but what about a two-day trial? Which is what’s happened with Liam Lawson.  

And like his Red Bull teammate, world champion Max Verstappen, I think it stinks. Verstappen thinks Lawson should have been given more than two races to prove himself, and I couldn’t agree more.  

Red Bull are dressing it up, saying that they’re dumping Lawson as part of their “duty of care” obligations.  

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said overnight: “We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and together we see that, after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience, as he continues his Formula 1 career with Racing Bulls.” 

But BBC Formula 1 correspondent Andrew Benson isn’t buying it.  

He pretty much said on Newstalk ZB that Red Bull are trying to put lipstick on a pig. They're dressing it up, trying to make it sound better than it is. Which is nothing short of an unceremonious dumping.   

Andrew Benson says: "This is not a duty of care by any stretch of the imagination, getting rid of someone after two races. 

"Duty of care is to give him a chance to try and perform a bit better. Put your arm around his shoulder and talk to him about what’s going wrong.”  

So the “duty of care” line is hogwash. 

But even Andrew Benson, who’s a Formula 1 correspondent and follows the sport all the time, is scratching his head trying to work out what’s happened.  

He did say though, that he thought Lawson looked like a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights at his two races this year.  He said looking at Liam off the track, while he was waiting to do interviews and things, he looked completely shellshocked.  

But, like Max Verstappen, he thinks Lawson deserved to be given more of a chance to prove himself.   

Verstappen isn't the only Formula I driver to think that way. He's one of several current drivers who have “liked” a post on Instagram criticising Red Bull’s treatment of Liam Lawson.  

It’s a post by former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde which says: "Yes, you gotta perform. Yes, the pressure is insane. But, in my opinion, this comes closer to bullying or a panic move than actual high athlete achievements."   

He says: "They made a decision - fully aware - gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit. Don't forget the dedication, hard work and success Liam has put in his career so far to achieve the level where he is now. Yes, he underperformed the first two races - but, if anyone's aware of that, it's himself."  

Liam Lawson deserved more support, encouragement and time. And what's happened stinks. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Some people think, don't they Some people think that a
ninety day trial for new workers is tough, but what
about a two day trial. Well that's what's happened with
Liam Lawson at Red Ball Formula one Racing has been
confirmed overnight. He's been dumped. He's going back to the
junior team. And like his Red Bull TEAMMATEE world champion

(00:36):
Max for Stappan, I think it stinks. For Stappen, he
thinks that Lawson should have been given more than two
races to prove himself and I could not agree more.
Red Bull they're dressing it up. What about this? They're
saying that they're dumping Lawson as part of their quote
duty of care, obligations, duty of care. The boss of

(01:01):
Red Bull, Christian Horner, this is what he said overnight. Quote,
we have a duty of care to protect and develop
Liam and together we see that after such a difficult start,
it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain
experience as he continues his Formula one career with Racing Balls,

(01:22):
which is the team he's going back to, which Christian Horner,
by the way, describes as quote an environment and a
team he knows well. So that's the weazel words coming
out of Red Ball Overnight, which BBC Formula one correspondent
Andrew Benson isn't buying when we heard that. When he

(01:43):
chaddled with Mike earlier, he pretty much said that Red
Ball are trying to put lipstick on a pig. Lipstick
on a pig, that's what they're doing. They're dressing it up,
They're trying to make it sound better than it is,
which is nothing short of an unceremonious dumping. Andrew Benson
from the BBC said, quote, this is not a duty
of care by any stretch of the imagination getting rid

(02:06):
of someone after two races. He went on to say,
duty of care is to give him a chance to
try and perform a bit better, put your arm around
his shoulder and talk to him about what's going wrong.
So the duty of care line hogwash. And even Andrew Benson,
who's a Formula one correspondent, he now follows the sport

(02:28):
all the time, he lives it. Even he is scratching
his head trying to work out what's happened.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
It's quite an extraordinary turn of events, isn't it Give
a guy a chance three months ago, give him two races,
and then flick him for the guy you thought wasn't
good enough when you gave him the drive in the
first place. So I think most of them one is
like what exactly?

Speaker 2 (02:47):
So it's not just him scratching his head actually heard there,
he sees most people involved in the sport are and
like Max Verstappen Andrew Benson from the BBC thinks Lawson
deserves or deserved to be given more of a chance
to prove himself.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
Two races in you know before Lawson's even driven on
a track that he you know, this weekend next weekend
in Japan is the first track that he's been to before.
After these races at the start of the year, they've
got rid of him. Now. Lawson obviously didn't have a
very good start to the season, there's no question about that.
But you really have to question if he was if
he was the right guy. In December, she would assume

(03:23):
a bit more chats.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
He did say that he thought Lawson looked like a
looked like a bit of a rabbit. Court in the
headlights had as two races this year, he said. Not
just on the track, he said, looking at Liam off
the track while he was waiting to do interviews and
things like that, he looked completely shell shocked. On the
positive side, there the BBC guy that he reckons, if
Liam can pick himself up from this huge disappointment, then

(03:48):
you can still have a decent Formula One career, which
is encourage him. You can imagine how he's feeling right now,
can't you? But tell that to Max for Stepan, who
obviously thinks that Lawson has been dumped on by a
red bull. This is Max's team he's referring to here,
and he's not the only Formula One driver to think

(04:08):
that way either, According to Andrew Benson from the BBC.
He says, Vestapan isn't the only Formula One driver who
has liked a post on Instagram criticizing the way red
Ball is treating Liam Lawson. So this is a post
by Formula former Formula One driver the Guioto van der

(04:29):
Guard criticizing Red Ball, where he says, quote, yes you've
got to perform, Yes the pressure is insane, but in
my opinion this comes closer to bullying or a panic
move than actual high athlete achievements, he says, quote they

(04:49):
this is red ball. He says, they made a decision
fully aware, gave Liam two races only to crush his spirit.
Don't forget the dedication, hard work and success Liam has
put in his career so far to achieve the level
where he is now. This is what this Formula drivers
former Formula One driver saying on Instagram right now. He says, yes,

(05:11):
he underperformed the first two races, but if anyone's aware
of that, it's himself. And that social media post overnight
has not only been liked by Max Verstappen, it's also
been liked by three other current Formula One drivers. So
he got four out of nineteen current drivers agreeing that
red Ball have been bullies and that Liam Lawson deserves better.

(05:36):
He deserves better support, he deserves better encouragement, he deserves
more time. And I tell you what I think it stinks.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
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