How Liam Lawson landed a 2025 Red Bull F1 seat with six great drives

But in the chaotic race that followed, with on-and-off downpours and a mid-race safety car, Lawson stayed calm and collected. He pitted four times in total, made the correct switch to the correct tyre on each occasion (decisions attributed to his race engineer Pierre Hamelin) and moved up from 16th to 14th in the final six rain-plagued laps.

He was also classified ahead of his team-mate, despite finishing 1.4sec behind him at the flag, when Tsunoda was handed a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with George Russell.

Lawson declared himself to be “reasonably satisfied” with his debut, but he’d ticked off all the essentials by keeping out of trouble, finishing the race and improving lap by lap.

2023 Singapore GP

Qualified 10th
Finished 9th

Singapore‘s heat, humidity and twisting layout make it one of F1’s toughest challenges, and marked Lawson’s biggest test so far. He aced it.

He began the weekend with a major upset, as he knocked Max Verstappen out of Q2, with a lap time that one-hundredth of a second faster than that of the world champion, who was unable to find the right set-up for his Red Bull. Tsunoda also failed to make it beyond Q2 after being blocked on his flying lap by Verstappen. With Sergio Perez eliminated at that stage too, Lawson’s AlphaTauri was the only Red Bull-owned car to appear in Q3.

The Kiwi’s ability to race beyond his years continued in Sunday’s Grand Prix, with another composed performance. He secured ninth place and a points finish as a result, despite missing out to a charging Oscar Piastri and becoming frustrated in DRS trains.

“Liam did a fantastic job of managing his tyres, making moves where possible and returning consistent lap times,” said AlphaTauri technical director Jody Egginton. “He was defending against several cars and performed some strong moves to keep in the points and bring the car home for very well-deserved first F1 points.”

“He did a fantastic race in Singapore,” added team principal Franz Tost. “It was not an easy track, which means he took the physical training very seriously and that way he scored two points, he finished ninth. He deserves to be in Formula 1, 100%.”

2023 Japanese GP 

Qualified 11th
Finished 11th

Lawson may have deserved an F1 seat, but it was made clear that he wouldn’t have one in 2024 when, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, AlphaTauri announced that it would retain Tsunoda and Ricciardo for the following season — an understandable decision given that Ricciardo hadn’t had yet time to establish himself at the team, and perform to his optimum.

While Lawson’s performances in his first first three grands prix had ben eye-catching, Tsunoda’s misfortunes made it difficult to make clear comparisons between the team-mates. The Japanese GP changed that.

In qualifying, Tsunoda emerged as the victor as he outpaced Lawson by 0.304sec and secured the ninth grid slot. Lawson started the race two spaces back, but he wouldn’t be there for long. And he wouldn’t be playing nice.

Sitting in Tsunoda’s slipstream off the startline, Lawson pulled alongside in the first double right-hander and the pair ran side-by-side in a forceful duel for six corners. Lawson muscled through on the inside of the first Degner corner, then squeezed Tsunoda to the apex in an uncompromising move, blocking his team-mate, as he tried to regain the position on the inside of the second Degner.

Tsunoda retook the place after undercutting his team-mate during the first round of pitstops, but Lawson remained in constant touch — never straying further than two seconds behind the Japanese driver. Then it was his turn to be pitted ahead of Tsunoda. In free air, Lawson was able to undercut his team-mate and take eleventh — a position he kept until the chequered flag.

Unsurprisingly, the drive earned more praise at Red Bull; a team that likes its drivers to be hard-nosed. “It’s only a matter of time before he gets his opportunity and full-time chance,” said Horner. “Liam certainly turned heads and gave us plenty to think about, in particular following his Singapore drive. He’s doing everything possible to justify a case for a full-time drive but unfortunately three into two doesn’t go.”

In reaction to losing out on a full-time seat for 2024, Lawson’s response was blunt: “I’ve just beaten the guy [Tsunoda] who’s getting a seat,” he told Netflix’s Drive to Survive. “It was meant to be me.”

2024 United States GP 

Qualified 19th 
Finished 9th 

Although Lawson missed out on an F1 seat at the start of 2024, Red Bull did guarantee that it would find him a full-time spot.

That promise came good in October, as he was elected to replace an underperforming Daniel Ricciardo at RB from the 2024 US Grand Prix.

It had been over a year since Lawson had last turned an F1 wheel in anger, having made his last world championship appearance at the 2023 Qatar GP. But it didn’t take long for the 22-year-old to shake the rust off.

He qualified 15th and finished 16th in the sprint which included a multi-lap clash with Fernando Alonso. The pair shared heated words back in the paddock after Alonso accused Lawson of being an “idiot” and their feud spilled over into qualifying for the Grand Prix, as the Aston Martin driver nicked ahead of Lawson on their outlaps. But it was the RB driver who would ultimately have the last laugh.

Starting from 19th on the grid, Lawson was 13th by the end of lap three and then moved up into 11th on lap 11 — pulling past Alonso into Turn 12. Lawson then continued his charge through the field, reaching ninth place where he remained until the chequered flag.

It was a highly impressive return to an F1 cockpit, as not only did Lawson finish five places ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda (who had originally qualified in tenth) but he’d also taken on Alonso — one of F1’s most petty operators — and ultimately come out on top.

Red Bull has always loved a fighter.

2024 Mexico City GP 

Qualified 12th
Finished 16th

The 2024 Mexico City GP provided Lawson with his first chance to be directly measured against Sergio Perez — the man he would eventually replace at Red Bull.

The pair started towards the back of the grid — Lawson in 12th and Perez in 18th — and it didn’t take long before they were sharing the same piece of track in a tussle over tenth.

On lap 18, Perez attempted to barrel down the inside of Lawson at Turn 4, but the latter was having none of it, squeezing the Mexican as much as he could, making contact and eventually staying ahead after running wheel-to-wheel through Turns 5 and 6.

The damage to Perez’s car proved costly, as his Red Bull gradually slipped back through the field and finished a distant 17th. Lawson meanwhile continued to compete for points but later sustained front wing damage after a clash with Franco Colapinto at Turn 1.

After reappearing from the pitlane, he found himself behind Perez, but breezed past the Mexican on fresher tyres ahead of Turn 1 — flipping the bird at him as he did so.

Lawson was later seen entering the Red Bull hospitality, closely followed by a less-than-pleased Christian Horner. While it wasn’t his finest performance, the Kiwi had once again shown his fighting spirit.

2024 Sao Paulo GP 

Qualified 5th 
Finished 9th 

The downpours over the 2024 Sao Paulo GP weekend created treacherous conditions that even the most experienced drivers struggled to race in. Lawson, once again, showed ability beyond his years.

He qualified eighth and finished ninth in the sprint, ahead of Tsunoda on both occasions. Then in Grand Prix qualifying, under intense rain that caused Franco Colapinto, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon to crash out, Lawson pulled out a brilliant performance to finish fifth — three-tenths behind team-mate Tsunoda in third.

In the chaos-filled race that followed, Lawson continued to race with an experienced head on young shoulders. He ran in sixth for the majority of his opening stint, after being passed by Charles Leclerc at the start, before making an ill-timed pitstop on lap 30, which saw him tumble down the order shortly before a red flag brought the race to a halt.

Lawson restarted the race in tenth, but while the likes of Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz failed to keep their cars on the road, the Kiwi kept safe and steady, eventually finishing in ninth.

It was a measured drive that may have ultimately sealed his Red Bull future.

“Liam’s performances over the course of his two stints with Racing Bulls have demonstrated that he’s not only capable of delivering strong results but that he’s also a real racer, not afraid to mix it with the best and come out on top,” said Horner upon announcing Lawson as a Red Bull driver for 2025. “There’s no doubt that racing alongside Max, a four-time champion and undoubtedly one of the greatest drivers ever seen in F1, is a daunting task, but I’m sure Liam can rise to that challenge and deliver some outstanding results for us next year.”