Liam Lawson

Early career of Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson embarked on his motorsport journey at the age of seven, starting with karting. His career encompassed participation in various championships in New Zealand, securing two national titles in 2014.

Transitioning to single-seaters in 2015, he competed in the New Zealand Formula First Manfield Winter Series with the Sabre Motorsport team. He scored one victory and achieved nine additional podium finishes en route to second in the championship.

Lawson also contested races for Sabre in the primary championship of this class, winning a race and achieving two podium finishes, ultimately concluding as the top rookie in sixth.

In 2016, he made the move to the New Zealand F1600 Championship Series, clinching the title as its youngest champion, scoring 14 victories, and finishing second on 15 occasions.

The following year, he took part in the Australian Formula 4 Championship with Team BRM. Securing victory in five races and achieving podium placements in seven additional races, he concluded the season in second place with 300 points.

Towards the end of the year, he participated in the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout, emerging as the fastest contender but ultimately losing the scholarship to Keith Donegan.

European switch for Lawson

Making the move to Europe in 2018, Lawson joined the Van Amersfoort Racing team for the ADAC Formula 4 Championship. With three wins and six additional podium finishes, he finished as the runner-up in the standings, accumulating 234 points. 

In 2019, Lawson started the season in the New Zealand Toyota Racing Series with the M2 Competition team. Claiming victory in five races and securing podium positions in six others, he clinched the championship title with 356 points.

Additionally, he made his debut in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with the MP Motorsport team and participated in the Euroformula Open with the Motopark team.

In FIA Formula 3, he achieved two podium finishes, concluding the season in 11th place with 41 points. In the Euroformula Open, he secured four wins and finished second in the standings with 179 points.

Returning to the Toyota Racing Series in 2020 with M2 Competition, Lawson won five races and was on the podium on five other occasions, but had to settle for runner-up spot in the standings, again scoring 356 points.

That year, he continued his journey in FIA Formula 3 with the Hitech Grand Prix team, claiming victory in three races and finishing fifth in the final standings with 143 points.

In 2021, Lawson made the transition to Formula 2 while maintaining his partnership with Hitech. Additionally, he debuted in the DTM with the AF Corse team, driving a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

In Formula 2, he secured his maiden victory, which turned out to be his sole win of the season. Despite this, he added two more podium finishes and concluded the season in ninth place with 103 points.

In the DTM, he achieved three victories and seven additional podium finishes. He narrowly missed out on the title, losing by three points to Maximilian Götz.

Lawson continued in F2 in 2022 but switched to Carlin. He won four races and achieved six other podium finishes, resulting in a third place in the final standings with 149 points.

He also made his F1 debut during the first practice session for the Belgian GP, replacing Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri. Further FP1 sessions followed in Mexico and in Abu Dhabi, replacing Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

In 2023, Lawson made the switch to Super Formula, supported by Red Bull and competing for Team Mugen. Again, he finished runner-up, scoring three wins and four other podiums in nine races.

Liam Lawson in F1

At the 2023 Dutch GP, Lawson made his F1 debut. Red Bull's young reserve driver replaced Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri after the Australian broke his hand during the second free practice and was unable to drive. Although Lawson qualified last, he drove superbly in the changing conditions to finish 13th.

Given the severity of Ricciardo's hand injury, Lawson continued to deputise for the following four grands prix in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Qatar. In Singapore, Lawson scored his first points in F1 with ninth place.

Ricciardo returned to the team at the end of 2023 and was retained for the 2024 season. But a run of disappointing results led to him being axed after the Singapore GP, and Lawson stepping in for the final six races.

Lawson scored additional ninth-place finishes in his first race in the United States and again in São Paulo. Despite struggling in the other four grands prix, he was remarkably promoted to Red Bull for the 2025 season as Max Verstappen's team-mate, with Sergio Perez making way.

After just two grands prix, however, in Australia and China, Red Bull took the astonishing decision to demote the New Zealander to Racing Bulls, and bring in Yuki Tsunoda.

Lawson struggled initially, and it was not until the eighth race of the season, in Monaco, that he finally scored his first points. Top-10 results followed in six other races, including a career-high fifth in Azerbaijan.

It was not until the break in between the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, however, that Lawson learned he would be retained by Racing Bulls for 2026.

For this season, he is joined in the team by rookie Arvid Lindblad.