Is Liam Lawson the big winner of Helmut Marko’s Red Bull exit?
Liam Lawson no longer has Helmut Marko looking over his shoulder
Helmut Marko’s departure from Red Bull has been an unexpected bonus for Liam Lawson, who no longer has to “look over his shoulder all the time” awaiting judgement from the now former Red Bull motorsport advisor.
Although Lawson contested his first grand prix for Red Bull’s junior team in 2023, it wasn’t until 2025 that he was handed a full-time drive, and with the senior team, Red Bull Racing.
Guenther Steiner: Liam Lawson benefits from Helmut Marko exit
That, though, was short-lived with Lawson contesting just two grand prix weekends before he was demoted to Racing Bulls in a straight swap with Yuki Tsunoda.
Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed that Marko had been the driving force behind the change.
“It wasn’t my choice,” Horner told Drive to Survive. “I was always pushed to take drivers from the Young Driver Programme. Helmut was a big driver in it.”
Marko, though, insisted it was for the good of the driver.
“[Lawson] lost confidence, and he couldn’t show his real potential. We were worried that his self-confidence is so damaged that he couldn’t bring his normal performance,” said the advisor.
Lawson not only went on to rebuild his reputation in the paddock as a Racing Bulls driver, but he also emerged as Red Bull’s preferred choice should the team need a substitute driver.
He filled in for Isack Hadjar at the Dutch Grand Prix after the Frenchman fractured his wrist and went on to score his first points for Red Bull with a seventh-place finish despite driving the RB22 for the first time at Zandvoort.
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes Lawson, and his confidence, have benefitted from not having Marko critiquing him week in and week out.
“Last year’s [Red Bull] car was difficult to drive for anybody,” Steiner told the Red Flags podcast. “I would also say Liam was not given enough time as well.
“He has another year under his belt. What he went through there made him tougher mentally, because that’s not easy to [endure].
“And now he goes in a Red Bull and has got quite a good level of confidence.
“He doesn’t need to look over his shoulder all the time because one guy is not there anymore as well, who always was asking immediately if somebody wasn’t bringing the performance.
“It was just also yet more experience, a different car. I think they are a little bit easier to drive than the cars from last year, the ground-effect cars.
“Mentally, he was like ‘I cannot lose here. I do the best with what I can. I don’t focus on Max. I do my thing and try to do the best.’
“A lot of little things coming together and all of a sudden it worked.”
Liam Lawson v Arvid Lindblad: Racing Bulls F1 2026 scores
F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates
F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates
Lawson will remain in the Red Bull RB22 for the Italian Grand Prix after team announced that Hadjar was not yet ready to return to the cockpit.
The team said in a statement: “Liam will drive alongside Max [Verstappen] at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, while Isack continues to make encouraging progress following the wrist injury sustained during the summer break.
“The team is closely monitoring his rehabilitation and will take no unnecessary risks with his return to competition and wishes him a speedy recovery.”
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