F1 2025 recap: Liam Lawson recovers after short stint at Red Bull F1

In terms of harsh driver swaps, Red Bull really outdid itself when it was stripped down Liam Lawson From his RB21 seat next to him Max Verstappen After just two – dismal – weekends, they finished 18th in Melbourne, and were last in qualifying for both the sprint race and the Grand Prix in China.

Helmut Marko and Christian Horner felt Lawson’s two poor weekends in Australia and China were so severe that his season was threatening to spiral out of control, while the New Zealander said he simply needed more time in the seat and that a lack of confidence in his driving was never the real problem.

“I would like to think that given the right time, I would have thought about it honestly,” Lawson said. “There were a couple of races…I honestly don’t really remember them. But a lot of things happened this year that made me a lot stronger.”

Understandably, Lawson felt very hard when he was traded Yuki TsunodaBut the 23-year-old had little time to contemplate this brutal demotion as he headed off to the next race with his new team at Suzuka, beginning a 22-race stint alongside the promising rookie. Ishaq Hajjar. It proved to be a crucial mission in his career to secure his future as Red Bull was considering any of its five drivers (including the Formula 2 star) Arvid Lindblad) to be distributed among its four cars in 2026.

Liam Lawson’s time with Red Bull Racing was short-lived

Hager’s run with Lawson, doing the full pre-season and the first two weekends, gave the Frenchman a leg up from the start. While he proved to be the quicker of the two on a single lap, by an ever-shrinking margin, Lawson was able to find a stable performance platform and gradually worked his way back into the form needed to earn a long stay in the Bull racing.

“Liam has done a fantastic job – his condition has stabilized over the season and his race pace is consistently very strong,” team CEO Peter Beyer said in Abu Dhabi.

Lawson has now competed in 35 Grands Prix, but he still does not have the luxury of completing a full season for the same team. The 2026 season will give him that opportunity, and with it the chance to dispel any lingering doubts about his ability to stick.

“I can look at last year and I think we definitely found a lot of progress during the year,” he added. “I can confidently say that I’m in a much more comfortable position now than I was, especially when I made the switch for the first time earlier in the season.

“Obviously you’re just playing catch-up, and yeah, as the season has gone on, I’ve gotten more comfortable. From a stats standpoint, it’s gotten a lot better, obviously. But from a personal side, there’s just things that I’ll always take back and learn from.”

Liam Lawson’s time with Red Bull Racing was short-lived

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