Liam Lawson has made a fantastic return to Formula 1. After five races last year due to Daniel Ricciardo’s hand injury, the New Zealander made his season debut with a ninth-place finish, despite starting from the back of the grid.
His weekend in the United States Grand Prix at the Austin circuit was truly impressive, but will it be enough to convince Red Bull to give him a chance alongside Max Verstappen in 2025? Perhaps, but there is one thing the “youngster” can do to receive serious consideration.
Does Liam Lawson Have the Key Factor for Red Bull’s Decision?
In recent years, since 2019, the Milton Keynes team has always looked for one characteristic in the Dutchman’s teammate: consistency.
First Pierre Gasly, then Alex Albon, now Sergio Pérez, and even Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo (if we also consider drivers from the “sister team” VCARB) have all failed in this regard.
Each of them had some impressive highs, there’s no doubt about that, but they also experienced painful—and, from the Austrian team’s perspective, frustrating—lows.
Liam Lawson had already shown last year that he could be fast, yet he didn’t fully convince Helmut Marko to give him a seat from the start of 2024.
Next year, however, the opportunity is ripe, and Liam knows it: showing some consistency in results, at least in comparison with Yuki Tsunoda (given the inconsistent performance of the RB), could be enough to secure him Sergio Pérez’s current seat. In short, the last five weekends of this championship will define, one way or another, Liam Lawson’s future; with one certainty: regardless of how it all ends, the “youngster” from Hastings belongs in Formula 1.
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