Liam Lawson made his Formula 1 debut last year when he filled in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo for five races. His performance certainly caught the eye of plenty, as he managed to knock out the reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the second segment of qualifying and score his first points at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
Amidst reports of an impending deadline that suggested that Lawson would become a free agent if Red Bull didn’t offer him an F1 seat for 2025 by the end of September, the management decided to replace Ricciardo with Lawson for the remainder of the 2024 season since the Australian driver failed to outperform his RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda on a regular basis. This decision also takes into account their intention to evaluate the performances of both RB drivers and Sergio Pérez before determining their driver line-ups for the upcoming season.
In a conversation with Tom Clarkson on the F1 Nation Podcast ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Lawson was asked to shed some light on the experience of being a racing driver in the cutthroat environment of Red Bull. In a candid manner, the New Zealander responded that the toughest moments he encountered were in his first year as a Red Bull Junior, when he had to cope with the pressure put on by veteran Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko for the first time.
As an afterthought, Lawson admitted that his struggles to deal with these expectations have continued since he joined the Red Bull family.
“I think, honestly, the hardest part is when you’re very young.
“For me, it was when I was 16 years old and 17 years old, my first year with Red Bull. That was going from not being with a junior team and just having my guys from New Zealand who have helped me get to where I was at that point to then have Red Bull Racing and have Dr. Marco calling and putting the pressure on you. That was what I really struggled to deal with.
“To be honest, since then, because it’s always been like that.”
On the topic of Helmut Marko and the type of feedback he provides regarding performance, Lawson revealed that they usually engage in early morning phone calls where Marko would issue warnings and question his future in the team if his performances missed the mark.
The 22-year-old, however, expressed his gratitude to the Austrian for pushing him to meet their high expectations and stated that the ultra-competitive environment in Red Bull has prepared him well to deal with the pressure of stepping into Formula 1 in the middle of a season.
“It’s normally a 6 a.m. phone call or something like that. It’ll be, ‘you need to perform better.’ He said, ‘next weekend, if you don’t perform better, you’re in trouble.’ You need to basically win races. Basically, it’s quite often, if you haven’t had a good race, ‘if this continues, you won’t have a future with this team.’
“It’s very cut-throat, but honestly, dealing with that, I’m so thankful to have gone through that with Helmut [Marko], honestly, because to now be at this point, to go into Formula 1, it’s a huge amount of pressure to step into Formula 1.
“Without having that kind of pressure from a young age, I don’t think stepping in at this late of the season or stepping in last year, for example, as well, I don’t think I would have been able to deal with it without having gone through five years of having Helmut.”
With Lawson set to compete from the United States Grand Prix onwards and trying to secure a full-time seat in 2025, he was asked whether he is experiencing more pressure in comparison to last year. The young Kiwi remarked that the pressure remains constant going into every race weekend since he is always expected to put his best foot forward.
Addressing different perspectives, Lawson stated that while some might estimate the pressure to be greater this year since he is expected to match or even surpass his performance from 2023, the team’s expectations and his drive to excel remain the same.
“It depends on your perspective. Honestly, from where I sit, the pressure doesn’t really change because the expectation is the same as it’s always been.
“They always expect us to perform. Every time we drive the car, there’s an expectation to perform. There was last year when I drove and it was trying to have a shot at getting a full-time seat, and now I’ve got it, and now I have to try and stay in a full-time seat.
“Honestly, the pressure side of it, you can look at it in many different ways and maybe see that this is more pressure because they expect a similar job to last year or even more than last year. But because I know that every time I drive the car, they’re expecting me to perform, it doesn’t really change. It’s always going to be like that.”
In terms of whether he is eyeing the second Red Bull seat to race alongside Max Verstappen or primarily focusing on retaining his seat at RB next year, Lawson responded that he is not preoccupied with that thought. Referring to the fact that Red Bull is looking forward to securing their future beyond Verstappen and Pérez, the Pukekohe native acknowledged that he is aware of the opportunity of securing a promotion to Red Bull if he can deliver on track.
Stating that his goal is to land a seat in the Milton Keynes-based team, Lawson added that there is no particular timeline for the move and that his performance in the remaining six race weekends would determine the course of his career in Formula 1.
“It’s not in my mind, but I’m definitely aware that being in the second team to Red Bull Racing, that’s the future.
“If I do a good job, my goal is to go to Red Bull Racing in the future. I know that obviously from their side as well, they’re trying to look for the future of Red Bull Racing for when either Max [Verstappen] and Checo [Pérez] eventually go somewhere, then they always need drivers to be ready for that.
“So I’m basically aware if I do a good job, that’s where my future is. When that can happen, that’s not something I’m really thinking about because I know that it’s going to completely depend on how I go in my current seat.”
When asked which races he is looking forward to the most, Lawson confessed that he isn’t particularly enthusiastic about the race weekend in Qatar given the tough time he encountered there last season due to the extreme heat and humidity. At the same time, he is optimistic that his experience would be positive this time around due to the change in the schedule of the race.
Referring to the lively atmosphere of Austin and the interesting layout of the Circuit of the Americas, the newest RB driver disclosed that he is really excited to compete this weekend since the resurfacing of the track would pose a challenge to drivers across the grid.
Moreover, admitting that he is indeed looking forward to all the remaining races, he particularly expressed interest in the Brazilian Grand Prix, citing their rich history and legacy of racing drivers.
“I can’t say I’m super excited for Qatar, if it’s going to be anything like last year, but at least apparently it’s not going to be, which is going to be a lot nicer.
“Obviously, the heat last year was something that I’ve never experienced and just getting through that race was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m excited to go back there in different conditions, let’s say that.
“For the other races, I’m excited for Austin, honestly, right now. It’s a race that even in his reserve, I enjoy going to. The atmosphere in America is very, very cool, especially in Austin.
“So yeah, excited for Austin. The track layout looks really, really cool as well. It changes every year because of the surface being built on a swamp. It changes basically every year, the surface, and now we have some resurfacing and it’s going to be a bit of new learning for everybody.
“Other than that, I would say Brazil, a lot of history. Obviously, watching some great drivers drive there and a lot of history there, so I’m excited for Interlagos.
“Then I’m pretty excited for all the tracks, to be honest. There’s not really anything I’m not looking forward to.”
