Liam Lawson’s ‘honest’ response after being passed over by Red Bull
Liam Lawson made his F1 debut with the Racing Bulls team in 2023
Passed over for a return to Red Bull, Liam Lawson says that wasn’t something he really thought about this season as he was focused on finding his feet at Racing Bulls.
Red Bull announced last December that Lawson, 12 races into his Formula 1 career, would partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing, the New Zealander promoted ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
Liam Lawson: It’s not, honestly, something I really thought about
However, two races into this season, Lawson’s Red Bull dream was shattered when then-Red Bull team principal Christian Horner demoted him back to Racing Bulls.
“It has been difficult to see Liam struggle with the RB21 at the first two races and as a result, we have collectively taken the decision to make an early switch,” Horner stated at the time, adding, “this is a purely sporting decision”.
Swapping seats with Tsunoda, neither Lawson nor the Japanese driver set the stage alight as they scored 38 and 33 points respectively, with only 30 of Tsunoda’s coming in Red Bull colours.
It meant when all was said and done, and Red Bull announced its F1 2026 line-ups, it was rookie Isack Hadjar with 51 points and a podium at the Dutch Grand Prix, who was handed the much-wanted, and probably also feared, job of being Max Verstappen’s new teammate.
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Lawson, confirmed for a second season at Racing Bulls alongside 2026 rookie Arvid Lindblad, admits rejoining Red Bull was not something he gave much consideration to.
“It’s not, honestly, something I really thought about this year, especially with how when I came back it was a very tricky few races,” he admitted. “I think, for the first part of this year, I was focusing on finding my feet again and getting used to this car.
“I’d missed the first part of the pre-season with the development where the car was going, and we actually made some changes to the car to make it a bit more comfortable, comfortable for me during the season.
“So it’s honestly not something I really thought about.”
He is, however, happy that he’s going into the final race of the championship assured of a seat on next year’s grid as last year he only learned his fate in mid-December.
Lawson revealed it was Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane who told him the good news after last Sunday’s race in Qatar.
“After the race in Qatar, actually,” Lawson told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media in Abu Dhabi.
“So I didn’t know before the weekend, as much as I was trying to find out during the weekend, it wasn’t until after the race, and it was cool as Alan was the one who told me.
“It was a little bit more pressure obviously, but I think I was in this position last year as well at the end of the season, and even still, actually up into Abu Dhabi.
“So I felt that I’ve been through it a few times before, and it doesn’t make it easy, but it’s something that we’re definitely used to in this team, in this environment.
“I mean, it’s always difficult, but it’s not new, honestly, it’s how I felt last year. It’s how I felt as a reserve trying to get my first opportunity in Formula One. It’s, I think, how you feel in Formula One until you really establish.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Mat Coch
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