Liam Lawson revels in 'better place' one year on from Red Bull pain

Liam Lawson has insisted he is in a “better place” in his career right now, over 12 months on from his painful start to life at Red Bull.

Lawson received a call-up to the senior squad at the start of 2025, but a highly challenging opening two rounds saw him swiftly demoted back to Racing Bulls.

After experiencing most of last year with the Faenza-based squad, Lawson was retained for 2026 and has scored two top 10 finishes in the opening three rounds of the year.

His positive start contrasts greatly with the agony he endured in the early stages of last season.

“It's pretty different to this time last year,” Lawson told media including RacingNews365. 

“This time last year, I was fighting for a race seat and it was a very difficult point, the start of my F1 career, to be honest.

“Stability-wise, things are in a much better place at the moment. Everybody around me is a lot happier as well. 

“It's been a good start of the year. Obviously, it's a long season ahead.”

Lawson scored a seventh place in China before bagging ninth last time out in Japan, aiding the team to P7 in the standings.

As the field continues to get used to the cars that have been built under brand new regulations, Lawson hailed Racing Bulls' reliability, which has been a major factor in its quest to score points.

“The biggest challenge is getting our heads around these new cars, the progression, the development of everything, which is it is pretty exciting for us, as much as the cars are quite tricky at the moment,” he said.

“There's a lot more opportunity to [improve], especially at this point of the year, when reliability is a big question mark as well.

“The first couple of races, there has been a lot happening, we've managed to capitalise on that stuff.”