While Red Bull stand-in Liam Lawson says it is impossible to compare the current RB22 with the previous Formula 1 car he drove with the Austrian outfit, the Kiwi admits he felt much “more comfortable” in the car than he did during his first stint at Red Bull Racing.
The Racing Bulls driver was called up to race for the senior team at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix in the place of the injured Isack Hadjar. It marked a return to Red Bull Racing for Lawson after he drove for the team at the start of the 2025 season, but was dropped after just two races.
After managing to score his best Red Bull result with seventh at Zandvoort, Lawson has now shed more light on his two experiences at the Milton Keynes-based team.
“Honestly, with how last year was, with those two weekends, the way those weekends played out, being two tracks I'd never done, I honestly still don't think I even have an opinion on what that car was to drive,” Lawson said when asked by Motorsport.com about his experiences in last year’s RB21.
“I feel like I got more comfortable in this [the RB22] in a weekend, so yeah, it's very hard to compare.”
When asked for the kinds of differences between the RB22 and the VCARB 03, Lawson pointed to the differing aerodynamic philosophies deployed by the two teams.
“The car is completely different, obviously, aerodynamically,” he told Motorsport.com. “And, as well, there's always things that, you know, personally, as drivers, we try and make our cars comfortable for us.
“And there's some things that, when you switch a car for a weekend, you can't just automatically change those things. So, there's stuff in this car that aren't the same as mine, in terms of just driver comfort, that I've had to get my head around. Without being too specific, but that's stuff that has probably been the most challenging.”
Lawson was called up after Hadjar injured his wrist while training over F1’s summer break.
The team has not yet confirmed when the Frenchman will be deemed fit enough to make his F1 return, but Hadjar revealed that MotoGP champion Marc Marquez warned him against rushing his return to competition.
