Red Bull hopeful lauded with ‘boldness of Verstappen’, but will it change his fate?

An “attitude that is a bit like Max” Verstappen, and with that same “category of boldness”, one Red Bull hopeful has been given a glowing endorsement ahead of the team’s all-important F1 2026 driver decision.

But Liam Lawson’s stonking ‘Ministry of defence’ drive at the Brazilian Grand Prix is not likely to elevate him above Isack Hadjar as he continues to struggle with consistency.

Liam Lawson has the ‘attitude and boldness’ of Max Verstappen

⦁ Something happens on the track, Lawson is ‘80%’ involved
⦁ Helmut Marko’s damning criticism of Lawson
⦁ Red Bull set pre-Abu Dhabi deadline to decide F1 2026 line-up

After a horrible start to the season that saw Lawson demoted from Red Bull Racing to Racing Bulls ahead of round three of the championship, the New Zealander needed time to recover from that blow.

Scoring his first points of the season in Monaco, he’s added five top-ten grand prix results to his tally, including a career best P5 in Azerbaijan, where he held off his Red Bull replacement Yuki Tsunoda, while in Brazil he put in an epic 52-lap stint on the medium tyres to secure seventh place ahead of his teammate Hadjar.

It was a bullish driver from the Red Bull hopeful, who started on the soft tyres before one-stopping onto the mediums and putting in a 52-lap stint. On very old tyres at the end of the grand prix, Lawson had to defend hard with four drivers, starting with Hadjar, finishing within two seconds.

Racing Bulls crowned its driver the ‘Ministry of defence of New Zealand’.

An insane stint on the Medium tyres by Liam 😮‍💨#F1 #VCARB #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/jXwPPWJl8S

\— Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team (@visacashapprb) November 10, 2025

It had former F1 driver Christijan Albers smiling.

In a season in which Lawson has earned himself penalty points on four occasions, every one of those for “causing a collision”, and has been in the thick of several more incidents – most notably with Tsunoda as they are drawn to each other like magnets on the track – Albers reckons Lawson has shown the attitude and boldness of four-time World Champion Verstappen.

“I like Lawson and I said so yesterday too,” Albers told De Telegraaf’s F1 podcast. “He has a certain attitude that is a bit like Max.

“He is not afraid, he really doesn’t care about anything. I mean, if something happens on the track, his involvement is usually 80 per cent.

“You can see that he really doesn’t give an inch, and I like that. But I do miss the ground speed that Hadjar has. Hadjar really has that extra bit of speed in him, so you always had the upper hand.

“But, I think it’s nice to see that, for example, he falls into that category of boldness of Verstappen.”

Verstappen qualities, but Liam Lawson is lacking ‘consistency’

But will those Verstappen-esque characteristics see him handed another shot at a Red Bull race seat?

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane believes Lawson has the talent to return to Red Bull, now it’s just a case of doing the work to make that dream possible.

“When Liam returned to us after only two races, we knew there was work to be done, and I really appreciated his approach,” Permane said in the build-up to the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“I know that our drivers want to win a world championship with Red Bull, and in Liam’s case, we are working together to ensure that dream is still achievable.

“If we look at his results, we see that it took him four or five races to find the right confidence with a car he had never driven before. He also found himself up against a teammate who has everything it takes to be considered the best rookie of the season.

“I believe Liam has exceptional talent. He has worked hard with his engineers and the whole team, reaching what has been his peak so far in qualifying in Baku, where he finished third in conditions made very difficult by the arrival of rain. The next day, he confirmed his talent with an excellent fifth place in the race.”

Permane, though, is just one voice in the mix – and he’s not the loudest or the one that makes the decision.

That’s largely down to Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, and he says Lawson isn’t yet showing the consistency that would make him a frontrunner for the Red Bull race seat.

“Strong team result of the Racing Bulls with Liam Lawson on P7 and Isack Hadjar on P8, both already in the top ten in qualifying, so a word,” he said in his Speedweek column.

That word wasn’t what Lawson wanted to hear.

“Lawson has caught himself with the Racing Bulls, but his performances are still not consistent enough,” said the 82-year-old.

Red Bull set pre-Abu Dhabi deadline to decide F1 2026 line-up

Lawson potentially has two races to make his argument as Red Bull will only decide its 2026 line-up after the Las Vegas and Qatar events.

“We don’t think the distraction now is necessary,” said team principal Laurent Mekies. “But yes, the decision will be made before Abu Dhabi. The drivers need to know where they stand.”

It is, however, understood by PlanetF1.com from well-informed sources that Marko has already informed Hadjar that he will step up to Red Bull next season, although other sources have indicated that conversations are ongoing. An agreement has yet to be officially signed.

Lawson is therefore fighting to retain his Racing Bulls seat with Tsunoda and Formula 2 racer Arvid Lindblad also in the running.

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