Liam Lawson passed his unexpected Red Bull test with an impressive seventh-place finish at the Dutch Grand Prix. Called up to replace the injured Isack Hadjar at Zandvoort, the New Zealander adapted immediately to the RB22 and produced a solid, productive weekend before declaring himself “grateful for the opportunity”.
In Max Verstappen’s home country, Liam Lawson finished behind Red Bull’s main rivals from Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, extracting what appeared to be the maximum available from the car. His remarkably quick adaptation also represented a significant personal response after his previous spell as a full-time Red Bull driver ended with a demotion to Racing Bulls following disappointing results.
Liam Lawson takes advantage of unexpected Red Bull opportunity
Once the extent of Isack Hadjar’s injury ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix became clear, Red Bull’s decision to replace him with Liam Lawson was far from accidental. With the strong results the New Zealander has produced for Racing Bulls this season, he represented the most logical choice available to the team.
Isack Hadjar is expected to be able to return as early as Monza, making Liam Lawson’s appearance at Zandvoort potentially a one-off opportunity. The temporary promotion nevertheless gave him another chance to demonstrate what he could do in the senior Red Bull team.
Liam Lawson delighted with seventh place at Zandvoort
“It was quite a lonely race for me. We didn’t have the pace to fight with the guys in front, it was tough. I’m happy to have brought points home for the team. I knew it was going to be difficult, especially at a circuit like Zandvoort, where you need a lot of confidence in the car, but I think we extracted the maximum,” Liam Lawson said.
His race was also shaped by the dramatic opening lap, when Max Verstappen suffered a heavy accident and retired from his home Grand Prix. Liam Lawson was directly behind his team-mate when the incident happened.
“It was a shame to see what happened to Max. That part of the track was incredibly slippery and on slick tyres it was very easy to lose control of the car. I was right behind him, so it was quite a scary moment. I’m glad he’s okay.”
Despite being thrown into a completely different car with little preparation, Liam Lawson praised Red Bull for helping him adapt to the RB22.
“It’s never easy to jump into a completely new car, but the team did a great job of making me feel comfortable and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Liam Lawson salvages points after Max Verstappen retirement
With Max Verstappen’s costly retirement, Liam Lawson’s points became particularly important for Red Bull, allowing the team to maintain its run of points-scoring finishes. It provided at least a small positive at the end of the final Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, even though Red Bull was unable to match the performance of its main rivals.
Liam Lawson’s result also underlined why Red Bull turned to him when Isack Hadjar was forced onto the sidelines. His instant adaptation and seventh-place finish gave the team valuable points during an otherwise difficult home weekend for Max Verstappen.
The work at Milton Keynes will now continue as Red Bull searches for more performance from the RB22 and aims for significantly stronger results than those achieved at Zandvoort.
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