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Motorsport

Stuart Codling

Why 'grateful' Liam Lawson is expecting a 'tough' F1 return at Red Bull

Liam Lawson Red Bull F1 Arvid Lindblad Yuki Tsunoda Isack Hadjar Daniel Ricciardo Racing Bulls Zandvoort

The first day back at the office after a holiday can often be a shock to the system. And that’s how it was for Liam Lawson when he landed in the UK on Monday expecting the usual pre-race simulation routine for Racing Bulls.

After Lawson switched his phone on he received a call from team principal Alan Permane telling him there would be a change of plan: Isack Hadjar had injured his wrist, and Lawson would be standing in for him at the Dutch GP this weekend. Lawson’s team-mate Arvid Lindblad was brought up to speed the following day while Yuki Tsunoda was summoned from the beach to fill in for Lawson at Racing Bulls.

“So, then my week changed pretty quickly,” Lawson told media including Motorsport.com at Zandvoort.

There is a certain circularity to this changing-around of personnel at this location. It was here in Zandvoort, in 2023, that Lawson made his F1 racing debut with Red Bull’s junior team after Daniel Ricciardo crashed and injured his hand in second practice. He seized the moment and was duly given a full-time drive alongside Tsunoda mid-way through 2024, then promoted to Red Bull Racing when it elected to dispense with Sergio Perez’s services at the end of that season.

At the time, there were those who questioned why Lawson had in effect jumped Tsunoda in the queue for the second Red Bull seat. And when Lawson then struggled in the notoriously difficult RB21, only to be abruptly demoted in favour of Tsunoda after two rounds, it provided further evidence of the damaging civil war being fought behind the scenes between senior management.

Much has changed to detoxify that environment since Laurent Mekies became team principal last year, and Lawson himself has benefitted from 18 months of stability at Racing Bulls, but the days ahead are still going to be exceedingly challenging. The RB22 isn’t the team’s finest work, the format of a sprint weekend gives little track time before getting into qualifying, and this could be the first time the latest generation of F1 cars run together in properly wet conditions.

Liam Lawson's first Red Bull stint lasted just two races (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images)

“Everything's really different [at Red Bull], to be honest,” Lawson said.

“For me, I know I'm coming in for this weekend, and in a unique situation to try and maximise one weekend. It's very different to being in your own car, being in your own team.

“At the same time, I've had a lot of races since then [his demotion from Red Bull] in Formula 1 as well, so I've learned a huge amount. And I'd like to try and take as much of that into this weekend as I can.

“But it's for sure going to be interesting. Obviously it's a tough track, the weather's going to be very interesting as well – so, yeah, let's see.”

The timeline of the week makes it clear Lawson was the first choice for the role. Not only was he given no choice in the move, the wheels were already in motion for it to take place. And Lindblad wasn’t informed until afterwards – which appears to have rankled, even though he would have faced a steeper learning curve, given neither F3 nor F2 visited Zandvoort in the years he contested those categories.

It was interesting to note the body language in the FIA press conference on Thursday at Zandvoort. When Lindblad was asked if there had been any discussions about him taking the second Red Bull seat this weekend, his usual bonhomie departed and he gave the question a very sharp tap into the long grass.

Arvid Lindblad admits it was "more logical" for his team-mate to get the call up to Red Bull (Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images)

“I don't know. I was given the news on Tuesday, so I don't know,” he said.

When another interlocutor returned – perhaps ill-advisedly – to the subject, Lindblad was slightly more loquacious.

“To be honest, it's my first time here to Zandvoort,” he said. “You know, it's a sprint weekend. I'm only halfway through my rookie year, so I think it was, let's say, a more logical decision to go with Liam. It would have been a bit more of a risk with me.

“Obviously, as a driver, I would have liked it. I would have liked the opportunity. But at the same time, I understand completely why they did what they did. And I'm very focused now on my own weekend and trying to do as best as I can.”

So, we can infer that Lawson was perceived as the least risky of the potential choices. Tsunoda, who hasn’t driven a 2026 F1 car until this weekend, was never in the picture for Hadjar’s seat. But it’s understood that, internally, Lawson’s stock has risen this season based on the speed with which he adapted to the often abstruse driving requirements of the new-generation power units.

While others (including, of course, Max Verstappen) have complained almost ceaselessly about the new hardware, Lawson has knuckled down to make the most of it. This, along with the resilience he has displayed in rebuilding his career after last season’s knockback, contributed to him being the obvious candidate. He has no illusions about the magnitude of the task ahead.

Liam Lawson made his F1 debut with AlphaTauri three years ago (Photo by: Erik Junius)

“It's a great opportunity,” he said. “I'm very grateful to be chosen for something like this, obviously.

“But for us as drivers, we know that it's definitely a tough thing to come into and to try and adapt to in one weekend. For sure, it's going to be challenging.

“I've had some pretty tough weekends in Formula 1 to be fair. Literally three years ago was Zandvoort when, obviously, Daniel had his injury and I jumped in.

“So that's got to be number one toughest weekend ever, and I would hope that this is not tougher than that. But it's going to be tricky for sure.

“Obviously I'm grateful to have had those experiences in the past as well, I think they sort of help build you to something like this.”