Liam Lawson unlocks hidden talent in fresh Red Bull-Ford collaboration

Liam Lawson left mouths agape as he turned his hand to rally driving at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Having never driven a rally car before in his life, Lawson needed only five laps to get a World Rally Championship stage-winner sweating. His brief was merely to get within 15 seconds of the time, never mind under one second.

Liam Lawson: A future rally star?

Long-time partners in the World Rally Championship, Red Bull and Ford are extending that alliance to Formula 1, working together on the Red Bull power unit which will debut for F1 2026.

And ahead of that milestone, Liam Lawson – currently driving for Red Bull’s junior F1 team Racing Bulls – was set a task at July’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Lawson spelled out exactly what his challenge entailed.

“The challenge is for me to get within 15 seconds of a lap time set by a pro rally driver, around the Goodwood Rally Stage,” he began in a Red Bull Motorsports video.

“A very narrow circuit, mostly lined with trees, and I have only got four laps to get to grips with the car.

“Two big problems. I have never driven a rally car before.” The other, it turned out, was that he was to drive one of the fastest rally cars that exists, a WRC Rally 1 Ford Puma.

M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean set a benchmark lap time of a 2:26.75. Lawson was on board for an up-close look at what was required, letting out a “holy sh*t” as McErlean put pedal to the metal.

“Oh beautiful! It’s so slippy,” Lawson added on his passenger lap around the circuit.

With the lap complete and his time to work with set, Lawson continued: “When you said it’s low grip, I was expecting it to be so much slower. Mate, that is f***ed. You just don’t expect it to have that grip.

“And there were a couple of corners that were really, really loose. So much pitch control, like you’re constantly pitching the car on the way into the corners.”

As Lawson and McErlean swapped seats, stalling straight out of the gates was not what Lawson had in mind. But, he was very much learning on the job here.

Onto the practice laps, and already, jaws dropped. First time around, he clocked a 2:36.25, putting him within 10 seconds of McErlean’s time already.

At the end of the fourth lap, the deficit was down to only two seconds.

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“I’ve never had a feeling like that from a race car,” said the New Zealander. “This is so much fun.

“You can’t help it, the adrenaline kick… Mate, unbelievable.”

Now, it was Lawson’s official time lap! Never mind get within 15 seconds, was he about to outpace a rally driver with a mere five laps of experience?

Not quite, but so, so close. A 2:27.25 it was from Lawson.

To be challenging a stage-winning rally driver after just five laps in such a unique racing discipline, is testament to the raw talent possessed by Lawson.

It was a harrowing start to the year for Lawson, who was demoted from the main Red Bull team after just two rounds, but his recovery has been strong. With 20 points scored since returning to Racing Bulls, he is 10 ahead of his Red Bull replacement, Yuki Tsunoda.

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