Liam Lawson not shying away from Verstappen teammate challenge

By Alex Powell

Halfway through his six-race stint to secure his Formula One future, Liam Lawson knows he has to keep performing if he’s to stay with Red Bull.

Since coming back into Formula One after Daniel Ricciardo was sacked by Red Bull, Lawson has been afforded until the end of 2024 with subsidiary outfit RB to remain on the grid in 2025.

And despite coming into the end of the season at a significant disadvantage to his competition, Lawson has so far made close to every post a winner.

With RB battling to finish sixth in the constructors’ championship, Lawson secured points finishes in both Austin and Brazil, crossing the line ninth on both occasions.

And as the season takes a short break before resuming in Las Vegas at the end of November, the 22-year-old is content with what’s happened so far.

“It’s been good,” Lawson said. “It was obviously a very good start in Austin.

“When you start like that, it’s hard to keep improving from there. In the background, I’m improving. We’re finding stuff in the car, and we’re getting better, it was such a strong race that it was hard to replicate afterwards, which we knew was going to be the case.

“But it’s been good, to score points twice, for the team, is very good. It’s just been busy.”

Arguably, what’s been most impressive with Lawson’s return to Formula One has been the contrast in his two points finishes. In Austin, a Ricciardo-earned engine penalty saw Lawson start 19th on the grid, but make his way up the field to equal his career-best result.

Two weeks later, in torrential rain at Interlagos, Lawson qualified fifth and held on to finish ninth in conditions that saw drivers with more experience than him struggle.

While Austin showed Lawson can attack, Brazil highlighted he can defend – and even managed to keep seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes at bay in the process.

But asked if he could have asked for any better on his return, Lawson outlined he still has more to give to finish the season.

“You can always improve,” he continued. “It’s very rare you have a perfect race.

“They’ve been strong, and they’ve been where we need to be. We had an expectation and a goal heading into the races. For me personally, I achieved what I set out to do.

“At the same time, you reflect on races, and there’s obviously things you can do better. But it’s been a good start, and going forward we’re aiming for more or less similar results as what we’ve had.”

While on paper, Lawson’s time at RB is only locked in for six races, the situation goes much deeper.

It is widely understood those six Grands Prix are an audition to step straight into the Red Bull senior team in 2025, and partner soon-to-be four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

But while Verstappen is all but guaranteed the drivers’ title, Red Bull as a team have seriously suffered in the constructors’ championship. From a point of what appeared to be invincibility, the team now sit third behind McLaren and Ferrari.

Those struggles can be solely placed at the feet of Sergio Perez. While Verstappen leads the championship with 393 points, Perez sits eighth with 151 – in the same car.

Red Bull had a contractual option to sack Perez at the summer break earlier this year but opted to retain him instead, as neither Lawson nor Ricciardo guaranteed immediate improvement.

Since stepping into the RB, though, Lawson has beaten Perez twice – including his home race in Mexico.

Lawson’s performances have even turned heads to the point that Jos Verstappen, father of Max, has said he’d be confident in the Kiwi partnering his son in 2025 and beyond.

Lawson and Verstappen do share a healthy relationship.

In 2021, when Verstappen was without a pair of driving boots for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Lawson stepped up to lend him his, given he was the only other person in the paddock with the same-sized feet.

When Lawson came into Formula One as an injury replacement for Ricciardo in 2023, Verstappen was also on hand to ease the Kiwi into the biggest challenge of his career.

And admittedly, that would change if they were competing against each other as teammates, Lawson isn’t shying away from the challenge of being up against the best driver of the modern era.

“I would feel ready,” he affirmed. “That’s what I’ve been trying to show in my performance for the last couple of races.

“But that decision comes from the team, from Christian [Horner] and Helmut [Marko]. I would feel ready for that.

“But the best way to show that is by performing on track. Regardless of whether I’m being looked at by Red Bull or not, I’m just focused on performing anyway to stay in the sport.”

All that’s left now, then, is to convince Red Bull’s decision-makers that he’s their man.

After Austin, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Lawson had “looked like a veteran”. A week later, after Mexico, Horner also said “When you’re not delivering, then the spotlight is firmly on you” in reference to Perez’s poor run of form.

That Mexican Grand Prix saw Lawson and Perez clash on track, in a tussle that the Kiwi largely came away victorious in, even if it drew the ire of Red Bull adviser Dr Helmut Marko.

But while Lawson has himself said he’s not in motorsport to make friends, he’s also accepting that only results will convince the pair that he’s the one they should turn to if and when the axe falls on Perez.

“There’s always feedback from both Christian and from Dr Marko. They’ve had a big role in my current situation and my future as well.

“They always give feedback after each weekend, it’s mostly very brief and simple. It’s more or less saying I’m doing a good job, but to keep moving forward.

“The expectation from them is high, that’s why they put me in the car. We’re fighting for sixth in the constructors.

“The target is clear from what they expect from us, to score points and fight for sixth.”

Marko has also said that no decision on the Lawson vs Perez battle will be made until after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission