Liam Lawson, the young gun from New Zealand, has his mission crystal clear: to restore Red Bull’s lost supremacy in the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship. He’s stepping into the big leagues, joining hands with Max Verstappen, following a lacklustre 2024 season by Sergio Perez that saw Red Bull sliding to third in the championship.
Despite only having 11 Grand Prix starts to his name, Lawson now finds himself in the frontline, tasked with restoring the glory days of Red Bull. Verstappen’s fourth consecutive Drivers’ title was overshadowed by Perez’s disappointing performance. Scoring 285 fewer points, Perez ended up eighth in the standings, greatly undermining Red Bull’s performance in the Constructors’ Championship.
Now, the baton has been passed to Lawson. The young Kiwi, despite being relatively green, has been given the responsibility of steering Red Bull back to the top. In an exclusive chat with Motorsport Week and select media outlets ahead of the F1 75 launch event, Lawson said, “The team’s goal is to win the Constructors and obviously they weren’t able to do that last year and that’s the clear goal going into this year.”
He added, “So obviously we’re doing the best job we can to make the car as fast as possible and for me if we’re in a position that we’re fighting for winning the Constructors then I’m doing my job.”
Lawson is not only tasked with boosting Red Bull’s rank in the Constructors’ title, but he also has to navigate being Verstappen’s teammate. In the rough and tumble world of F1, this is considered one of the most challenging assignments. Predecessors like Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon too had been hurled into the second Red Bull seat early in their careers and failed to bear the intense pressure of having Verstappen in the same garage.
However, Lawson sees this as a golden opportunity rather than a pressure-cooker situation. “It’s obviously going to be a process to get up to speed and for me it’s about doing that as quickly as possible,” he noted, adding that there’s no set time frame for when he thinks he’ll accomplish that. The Kiwi racer is relishing the chance to learn from Verstappen, seeing the Dutchman as a valuable mentor.
Lawson concluded, “It’s more about making the most and taking advantage of that rather than thinking about it in a way that’s going to obviously put extra pressure on me.” Clearly, Lawson is eager to seize the day, learn, and ultimately aid in Red Bull’s quest to return to the pinnacle of Formula 1 racing.
