After two races, the big dream of Liam Lawson had burst for the time being: the New Zealander had to cede his red Bull cockpit to Yuki Tsunoda. But maybe there is still the chance that the 23-year-old will drive again next year alongside Max Verstappen?
“He is not degraded. He is switching to Racing Bulls, who have a very competitive car, much easier to drive than the RB21,” said Helmut Marko in the spring compared to the English-language edition of Motorsport.com, a sister platform from Motorsport-Total.com in Motorsport Network.
The Austrian emphasized that the exchange was by no means the end for Lawson: “The change came after a start that I would call rather unhappy,” said Marko. “He couldn’t drive the third training session in Australia, and the problems started. Of course, Liams influenced self -confidence.”
Because of a problem with the drive unit, Lawson had to watch Melbourne in the third training session. “It was a downward spiral that we had to break through to enable Lawson to make a future in his career,” emphasized the Red Bull consultant at the time.
Lawson shortly before Formula 1 out?
The past season was turbulent for the New Zealand: from the moment he replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls, he suddenly considered a hot contender to the cockpit of Sergio Perez-a scenario that was actually confirmed over the winter, although his Formula 1 experience consisted of less than a dozen Grand Prix weekend.
But the difficult start of the 2025 season led to what Marko did not want to know as “degradation”. Within a few weeks, the young New Zealand’s career took a completely different direction, so much that many already doubted whether he would end the year at Racing Bulls.
The aspiring talent Arvid Lindblad, which contested its rookies season in Formula 2, additionally strengthened this speculation. It was not out of the question that Red Bull would be letting him in the premier class before the end of the year, possibly as a replacement for Lawson. Because at the beginning of the season he had not collected points nor had his teammate Isack Hadjar’s pace.
In the same interview, Marko also made it clear that Tsunoda would definitely end the season at Red Bull. And Hadjar was, at least until Gabriel Bortoleto increased steadily at Sauber and scored the first points, as the best rookie of the season. So Lawson stood on the brink at Racing Bulls.
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Comeback at Racing Bulls “A hard entry”
However, the New Zealander caught himself before the summer break and stabilized his season with a number of convincing races. He may not have done the very big change with it, but he has regained his self -confidence – even if he never admitted that he had lost it at all.
“He really did a great job,” said Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane at the Hungary Grand Prix. “The two races at Red Bull were of course very hard for him. He won’t thank me if I say that, but he was definitely a little down.”
“He had no great dynamic, and we did what we could help him. Without jumping into our car without test drives, of course he was not easy. And he competes against Isack, which is outstanding this year. His first race was in Japan, and Isack was absolutely outstanding there.” It was a hard start for Liam. “
In his first five races with Racing Bulls, Lawson was neither managed to advance to the Q3, nor to score points, while Hadjar reached Q3 three times and scored in Japan and Saudi Arabia. This could still have been explained by getting used to it, but the doubts about his future became louder.
Has Lawson just made the turn?
It was therefore crucial that from Monaco he replied with better performance just in time. He was still behind Hadjar in qualifying, but he was close enough to develop strategies that gave the two drivers points. Lawson played a key role.
Technical updates also helped: Above all, a revised front -wheel suspension brought him noticeably more confidence in the car. So he collected points in Austria, Belgium and Hungary. In Budapest, he even finished in front of Verstappen after implementing a courageous single-doubles with a 40-round stint perfectly.
“We made a few changes,” explained Permane. “He worked hard. He and his engineering team really worked really hard. We had a breakthrough in Austria. We had a new front hen hungry for him, which was developed in the simulator, and he liked it very enthusiastically, was really enthusiastic, and it worked there.”
Lawson feels comfortable in the car now
“In Spa you saw again that he was performing. You saw that after the race … Monaco was a good race for him, but in Austria he was full of energy again,” says Permane. Lawson himself contradicted the assessment that he was depressed and insisted that his self -confidence was never shaken.
“See everyone will have their own opinion and have judgments if they look at someone,” he said after the Hungary GP. “It’s okay, but I know how I feel.” Nevertheless, his body language seemed significantly released compared to the depressed appearance in the Red Bull overall at the beginning of the year.
“To be honest, nothing big has changed, except for a few small things by the car and little things with me who helped me to feel comfortable in the car,” he said. “And I think I’ve felt really comfortable in the car since Austria.”
“But the speed has been there since the beginning of the season. We just had a lot of small things in the first part of the year that was Constance, and now it is there. But it is also very difficult to keep it, so we have to concentrate on maintaining it.”
Problems with Yuki Tsunoda as a tailwind?
Lawson has received continuing problems since the change through tsunodas. The Japanese only landed in the top 10 twice and has been waiting for more points since Monaco. Lawson, on the other hand, was increasingly prevalent in qualifying: four q3 for him, only twice for tsunoda – even though the Japanese has the faster car on paper.
This indicates that Lawson’s initial difficulties were not exclusively driving nature. But what does that mean for his future? “This year was so intense that I didn’t really think about it,” said Lawson when asked if he was striving for a return to Red Bull.
“I concentrate on having good races, and we have had them lately, but three out of twelve or as many there were, are not enough. We have to deliver more of it, and then we will see.” Timing is crucial in Formula 1, and Lawson goes into the summer break with 20 World Cup points, only two less than teammate Hadjar.
Even if he himself downs the meaning, he has at least invalidated the doubt that he was “a hopeless case”. This gives him a basis on which he can build in the second half of the season, especially since there are several routes on which he has already gained formula 1 experience.
“Yes, I think it is of course good to drive on distances that you have already driven in Formula 1, and I particularly like some of them that are now coming,” hopes Lawson. “So yes, I think the second half of the season will be exciting, I’m looking forward to it, but I’m also looking forward to a few weeks of break.”
Does Lawson get a second red bull chance?
Under Christian Horner Red Bull offered his drivers, who had failed in the top team, never a second chance – not even Pierre Gasly, who won a race and scored with Alphatauri podium places, was brought back. But could this policy change now?
Red Bull is still a long way from solving the problem with the second car. So far, Tsunoda has not provided the necessary consistency to sustainably consolidate its position. Insiders indicate that Laurent Mekies, who took command in July, was willing to give him more time, with indication that differences in the specification affected his services compared to Verstappen.
In Spa and Hungary, Tsunoda showed approaches of progress, including times that were only two tenths slower than from Verstappen. Nevertheless, all options remain open. It would be premature to say that Lawson was back in the race for a Red Bull seat.
But in view of the limited alternatives and the ongoing uncertainty, its improved form came at the perfect time. It remains to be seen whether Marko is right that the early “degradation” could prove to be a blessing, but Lawson at least stopped the crash and worked out something, for which it is worth fighting in the second half of 2025.