Liam Lawson 'main element' revealed behind new Racing Bulls deal

The "main element" as to why Liam Lawson was retained by Racing Bulls for this season following a difficult campaign last year has been revealed by the team's CEO, Peter Bayer.

Lawson endured a rollercoaster ride in 2025 that started with the high of starting the season with Red Bull, followed by a frightening dip that saw him jettisoned and demoted to Racing Bulls after the first two grands prix.

It was not until the eighth race of the season in Monaco that Lawson finally managed to shed the 'zero points' zag, after which he added to his tally in seven other races.

The New Zealander had to wait, though, until the final week of the season before finally discovering his F1 fate, ultimately earning a new contract with the team for the coming campaign.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365 at the end of last season, Bayer conceded that Lawson is a good fit for his team and detailed why the decision was taken to give him another year.

"We knew him from that infamous day at Zandvoort," said Bayer, referring to the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, when Lawson was thrown in at the deep end as the debutant replacement for Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian broke his left hand in a practice crash.

"He was already with us as a reserve driver, and he was somebody who always fitted well into the team.

"Honestly, in terms of performance, we see his performance stabilising, which I think was the most important thing for us, and when the decision was made to award him the seat next year, that was the main element."

Claiming Lawson returned to Racing Bulls from Red Bull "a bit shaken" after his traumatic experience with the team, Bayer added: "Quickly, and it's one of the strengths of the team here, everybody knows that these things can happen.

"Because we keep incubating talent, we're used to changes, even throughout a season. No one is panicking, no one is like, 'Oh my God! A new driver'. For us, it's always, 'Okay, good. Let's go and find Liam's seat and put him back in'.

"He fits well into our philosophy. He's been a part of the Red Bull junior programme for many years, and honestly, he did everything right [last year].

"Despite the setback, having difficulties, in terms of race pace, there were a couple of races where he was faster than Isack [Hadjar]. We need to work on his qualifying pace, but there's a lot of potential."