Liam Lawson rejects 'ghost' suggestion with statement of defiance

Liam Lawson has brushed aside the notion that his impressive form with Racing Bulls has banished the "ghosts" of his brief spell at Red Bull at the start of last season.

The New Zealander is ninth in the drivers' championship with 43 points after 11 rounds. He has scored points on eight of those weekends and has taken two sixth-place results, in Monaco and at Silverstone, which has helped the Faenza-based squad to fifth in the standings at the halfway stage of the campaign.

By all accounts, the 24-year-old is one of the standout performers in F1 this year, and his current situation is a far cry from when he was promoted to Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen but lost the seat after two grands prix, with Yuki Tsunoda replacing him.

Asked by PlanetF1 whether his current season had helped put the "ghosts" of his Red Bull spell to bed, Lawson said he had not viewed the situation in those terms.

"Honestly, no, not really," Lawson said. "I don't really; I haven't really thought too much about what people thought last year or anything like that.

"I'm very focused on where I'm at right now, making sure I have a good season and trying to obviously have a future in Formula 1 and work towards the same goal we're all working towards."

Lawson said he is not spending time thinking about what happened during his brief Red Bull stint. "So yeah, in terms of stuff that's happened in the past and last year, it's not really something that I think about now," he said.

"I think it's probably more for you guys [media] to decide whatever you think, because for me, it's not something I think about now."

Lawson added that he sees last season as a difficult period rather than something that continues to affect him.

"It's not really a thing for me. I think right now in this season we're doing a very, very good job. In my eyes, I didn't really have a ghost of last year," he continued.

"I had a tough season. But I learned a huge amount through it, and honestly, I've come out of that as a much stronger driver and person."

Lawson shared that he is trying to apply those lessons during the 2026 campaign, with Racing Bulls continuing to score consistently in the midfield.

"I'm trying to use all that each week, and I get in the car now to have a good season, and that's what I'm doing. However people view it is up to them."

Racing Bulls has regularly fought for points in the opening half of the season, with Lawson and Lindblad both boasting eye-catching displays. Now, the former insists that maintaining that level is the focus.

"At the end of the day, obviously people can look at it however they want, but, at the moment, things are going very, very well, and that's what we're focused on continuing, trying to keep that consistency going," he added.

"It's probably the hardest thing in Formula 1; to keep that consistency, especially, I think, in the midfield; you're sort of always in all the action.

"So for us, it's been working very well. But yeah, I would say this year is a good representation of where things are at."