Liam Lawson reveals what he ‘wasn’t given’ in his brief Red Bull stint
Liam Lawson was booted out of Red Bull after just two races
Four months on from his Red Bull demotion, Liam Lawson says he hasn’t had the opportunity to really reflect on it but he does think the team should’ve given him “six months” to prove himself.
Lawson became the latest casualty of the second seat curse at Red Bull when he was dropped after just two Grand Prix weekends with the Milton Keynes team.
Liam Lawson: I needed time, and I wasn’t given it
Red Bull announced in December that Lawson had been promoted instead of Yuki Tsunoda as Max Verstappen’s F1 2025 team-mate.
“I think the feeling within the team is that the trajectory Liam is on has more potential, which is why we’ve taken that route,” said then-team principal Christian Horner.
The New Zealander’s season got off to a difficult start as he was out in qualifying in Australia in Q1. Following that up with back-to-back P20s in the two qualifying sessions in China, Red Bull made the call to drop him back to Racing Bulls with immediate effect and promote Tsunoda.
“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,” said Horner. “We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam.”
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Dealing with that huge blow, it took Lawson a few races to bounce back at Racing Bulls before he scored points in Monaco and again in Austria. His tally of 13 puts him three points ahead of his Red Bull replacement Tsunoda, who is also struggling to score points in the second RB21.
Lawson can only imagine what he could have done if he’d been given more time to adapt to the RB21.
“I think I would say one thing to be clear about is that between the first couple of races, to the team switch, then going to Japan, mentally for me nothing changed,” he told the official F1 website.
“It’s been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false. From the start of the year, I felt the same as I always have.
“I think in two races, on tracks I’d never been to, it’s not really enough for my confidence… maybe six months into a season, if I’m still at that level, if the results are still like that, then I’d be feeling something – maybe my confidence would be taking a hit.
“I was well aware that those results weren’t good enough, but I was just focused on improving, fixing and learning, basically. I was in the same mindset as I have been since I came into F1.
“I think that was the biggest thing going into a team like that, in a car like that… it was going to take a bit of time to adjust and learn. With no proper testing, the issues in testing, the issues in Melbourne through practice… it wasn’t smooth and clean. I needed time, and I wasn’t given it.
“I haven’t really talked much about it, because I think for a big part of this year, I’ve just ignored everything that happened, and I’ve just focused on trying to drive the car – but I know there was a lot of stuff that went out that was speculation about how I was feeling.
“My confidence hasn’t changed since the start of the year to now.”
Midway through the season, which has seen the drivers contest 12 races in just five months including two triple-headers, Lawson says he’s yet to take the time to truly reflect on all that has happened this year.
“Honestly, not really – not yet,” he said. “I think now it’s not quite… I think the summer break is the time everybody mentally switches off, at least for a week or so.
“We all know we have a couple more races coming up before then. You’re still in that mindset, you’re still thinking about what just happened, how we’re going to improve in the next couple of races, and how I’m going to improve myself. You’re just in it.
“It’s nice to have a bit of time to breathe, but mentally I’m thinking about Belgium and Hungary that are coming up, and trying to go into that break with a good couple of races.”
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