Liam Lawson learned in the most brutal way of how cut-throat Red Bull Racing can be with their drivers, yet he is also one of many drivers that has been caught in the maelstrom of chaos that the Austrian team has endured in recent years.
But in the right environment, Lawson is a credible grand prix driver, just as he underlined in the autumn of 2023 and the summer of 2025.
Lawson's F1 Journey
After Daniel Ricciardo injured his hand and was ruled out for five races. Hence, Lawson replaced him for the duration of his injury.
The Kiwi impressed, particularly at the Singapore Grand Prix, where he qualified and finished inside the top ten. In fact, during that five-race run, he was the only Alpha Tauri driver (now VCARB) to score a point, as Yuki Tsunoda struggled to match his more inexperienced teammate.
Remarkably, this run of form did not earn him a full-time seat for the 2024 season, but he replaced Ricciardo again for the year's final six race meetings.
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Although he would finish inside the top ten on two separate occasions, he never once outqualified teammate Tsunoda, and scored half of his points during that period.
But, Red Bull were convinced enough by him to promote him to the senior Red Bull team, and replace the struggling-Sergio Perez.
But his lack of competitive pace, in both pre-season and the year's first two races, was instantly worrying.
Lawson OUT in Q1 ❌
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 15, 2025
That's going to be it for Liam Lawson in qualifying after making a mistake on his fast lap! 😮#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/SecUxfbHme
In Australia, he was out in Q1; and in China, he qualified last for both the sprint and main race. Not only did he not score a point, while teammate Verstappen was second in the championship, he did not come close.
Within days of the Chinese GP debrief, he was demoted back to the junior team, making way for Tsunoda.
His reaction since
It took a while for Lawson to find his feet again. Not until the season's eighth round did he score a point, and there he played second fiddle to rookie teammate Isack Hadjar.
But, in the last four races, he has been in the points on three separate occasions, scoring 16 of them in the process. In fact, Hadjar, who many deemed to have been blowing an anguished-Lawson away, is only two points ahead in the championship.
That is not to say that 2025 has been satisfactory for the 23-year-old, it has been anything but. He lost the drive that he had worked for, in a heartbeat, and looked doomed at any long-term prospects of even keeping his current drive for 2026.
But his recent form, just at the point when the team are assessing their line up for 2026, makes it difficult for him to be dropped, because Lawson is currently VCARB's in-form driver. And he deserves credit for forcing these tough choices, because it did not appear tough a couple of months back.
Inevitably, there are other factors that influence the situation. Does Lawson really have any chance of returning to Red Bull? If not, which is more likely given his acrimonious struggles at the year's start, will the organisation be that keen to keep him in the second team?
Also a young Red Bull prospect, in Arvid Lindblad, is being touted as a future F1 driver. Does the focus turn to him more, or does the parent company currently feel that Lawson is performing at a higher level?
What is clearly obvious, though, is that Lawson's recent uptick in form has done little harm to his chances of remaining on the grid for next season. The lingering worry will be, has the damage already been done?