Liam Lawson, considered by many to be ‘Formula 1’s toughest seat’, faces the ultimate challenge of taking on Max Verstappen to secure his long-term future in the sport.
Red Bull announced on Thursday that 22-year-old New Zealander Lawson will be a teammate of the four-time reigning world champion in 2025.
Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s longest-serving team-mate, was axed after four seasons at Red Bull, which saw many struggles during his final 18 months at the Milton Keynes team.
Prior to Perez, Pierre Gasly managed just 12 races, while Alex Albon was dropped after a season driving alongside Verstappen.
Ahead of them, Daniel Ricciardo, then considered among the grid’s elite drivers, opted to move to Renault, frustrated that Red Bull were building their future around Verstappen.
Speaking Sky Sports News Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said this month: “Driving alongside Max is the most difficult place in Formula 1 because he is the best driver on the grid.
“He’s a four-time world champion, he’s a generational talent. You have to ignore almost everything that’s going on in his car so you don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
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Speaking ahead of Lawson’s promotion being confirmed, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reflects on the departure of Sergio Perez and the skills needed for his replacement in the chair.
That sounds like a tall, if not impossible, order for a driver who has competed in just 11 grands prix, failing to stand out among the sport’s new generation of young talent.
So, in his own words, from an exclusive interview Sky Sports NewsWhy can Lawson succeed where others have failed?
Complete pre-season and fast car
While Lawson’s lack of experience raises doubts about his readiness at this point, it’s also partly why the opportunity came his way.
His main rival for the seat and team-mate in all of his F1 appearances to date, Yuki Tsunoda, has just completed his fourth full season in the sport and has surpassed Lawson, along with previous RB drivers Ricciardo and Nick de Vries. .
Based on results alone, the place should have gone to Tsunoda, but Red Bull are banking on the theory that while Lawson has had as many races at the wheel of F1 as the Japanese driver currently does, he will reach a higher level.
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Lawson reflects on his successful return to F1 racing after the RB driver battled from the back of the grid to finish ninth at the United States Grand Prix.
The first benefit he will experience is the ability to properly prepare for a full campaign.
“It’s something I’ve never had, and it’s exciting,” Lawson said. “I don’t really know what to do with myself, to be honest, because I’ve had a lot of time to think about it want to get right into it.
“It’s going to be important. It’s also how you use that time. I’m sure we’ll be doing a lot of preparations already. It’s just to make the most of that time test”.
Another key factor that could allow Lawson to make an impact is that he jumps into a car that won nine races in 2024.
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Verstappen collected his title prize in Rwanda and admitted “a lot will change” looking ahead to future fights as new regulations for 2026 loom.
It’s very rare for a rookie to get a chance in the front car, but there will be two in 2025, with Italian teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes following the Briton’s decision to join Ferrari.
He said: “It’s definitely got upsides and downsides. I think where my head is at, obviously I’m just looking at the upsides and it’s very exciting for me and I know it’s going to be extremely difficult.
“A lot of tracks I’ve never been to. But to be in a car that’s just won the world championship, as a driver, it’s very exciting, knowing you’re going into a competitive situation, but I’m fully aware. how hard is it going to be?”
Learning from Verstappen… without him realizing it
Although Lawson lacks grand prix experience, he has spent no shortage of time in and around the Red Bull team.
Unlike some of his predecessors, Lawson has been able to closely follow Verstappen during the Dutchman’s rise to greatness.
Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen discuss the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix in the Red Bull garage
Asked if being around Verstappen has been helpful, Lawson said:
“Being a reserve for a few years, I started to actually spend a lot more time with Red Bull than with RB.
“As a reserve, I was watching all the sessions, listening to his communication during the sessions and just watching from the background. So I spent a lot of time watching how he was doing it, how he was communicating with the people. his reactions.”
During his limited spell on the grid, Lawson has replicated Verstappen’s uncompromising nature amid disputes with experienced rivals such as Perez and Fernando Alonso.
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Perez clashed with RB’s Lawson at the Mexico City GP
However, it is other elements of Verstappen’s hugely successful approach that Lawson says he wants to follow.
“Being a backup at Zandvoort last year, he gave me a little bit of advice, mostly about the mindset of how he goes about it,” Lawson said.
“He’s obviously a very relaxed guy outside of the car and he manages to take a lot of pressure off what I think is a lot of pressure, so that was something for me to watch and learn from.”
Advice from Albon
One area where Verstappen’s previous Red Bull teammates have struggled has been the design of the team’s cars, which some suggest is geared towards his preference for oversteer.
While others may not have been prepared for it, Lawson has been able to do a significant amount of testing in his time, with the team’s reserve driver able to stand up to him better than his predecessors.
“I’ve been driving the car for the last couple of years and doing tests and I can say that the car is very aggressive and it takes a lot of confidence to drive it, to be honest,” Lawson said.
“And I think that’s where Max is obviously very confident as a driver. But the main thing is that he’s the best in the world at the moment.
“It’s always going to be very, very difficult to go against the top guy, and ultimately that’s probably the main reason anyone has ever struggled to go against him.”
On his way to Formula 1, Lawson competed in the German sports car racing series DTM in 2021, where he coincidentally teamed up with Albon, who had just been fired from Red Bull.
Lawson with Alex Albon, another product of Red Bull’s junior program
Now clear on where he wanted to end up, Lawson grilled Albon for information he hoped would help him in the future.
“When we were in the DTM, he probably hated that I was asking all the questions. But I did, I asked him a lot of questions about Red Bull and what it was like in the team and how the car was,” he recalled. Lawson.
“I know the car was different back then, but to be honest the specs are probably pretty similar. And I’ve driven the car and I can say it’s aggressive and probably quite difficult to drive.
“He told me it’s all about confidence. And fighting Max, that’s what it takes, obviously.”
Beating the odds
While an argument could be made that Lawson’s unorthodox route to his Red Bull seat might actually have been the best possible preparation, most viewers would find his success a bigger surprise than his failure.
The good news for Lawson is that playing the underdog is nothing new to him.
For starters, he comes from a country that has only produced one other F1 driver in the last 40 years (which lasted just two seasons).
“I think to get to a high level in any sport or in any field that you choose, being from New Zealand, I feel like it’s always more difficult in a small country,” Lawson said.
“I didn’t know personally how unattainable Formula 1 was, I was always lucky that I just believed I could do it and I was lucky that my family around me gave me that support. But looking back, it’s a little more difficult.”
Lawson, 17, was pictured during his first F3 season in 2019
But even in New Zealand, Lawson’s parents’ lack of financial means meant completing domestic and international competitions was a challenge.
“The first 12 months I was doing karting, I was finishing last every time. I was driving alone at the back of the field,” Lawson recalled.
“I was trying to convince my dad to get a better engine because I was convinced it was bad and finally he did. And we put it in for this qualifying session in this big event and we were right up front and that was it was when karting got serious.
“For my parents, they sacrificed everything for me when they were kids. Even just to race karts, it’s still too expensive to race at the front in New Zealand.
“My parents don’t have a home now because I’m growing up karting and leaving home. My siblings, my whole family has given a lot for me to do this.”
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