Liam Lawson could be looking at a new teammate in 2025 if paddock speculation about Sergio Perez’s career is to be believed. However, the New Zealand driver said the pressure to perform within the Red Bull family never goes away. In fact, it will likely only be heightened if Max Verstappen is on the other side of his garage next year.
“You’re always being evaluated,” Lawson shared with me on our road trip from California to Nevada ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix (you can watch the full video here). “Especially in your early years in F1, with the way our contracts are [set up] and the way the teams are judging us — we have performance clauses, so we’re always under pressure. You’re never really safe.”
Even when the 22-year-old secured a full-time seat at VCARB, replacing Daniel Ricciardo in September, the pressure wasn’t alleviated. “Last year, I was trying to get a full-time seat. Now, I’ve got a full-time seat, but I’m trying to stay in Formula 1. It’s the same kind of thing. We’re obviously trying to achieve the best results, but I don’t think your mindset really changes,” he explained.
Yet even with the immense pressure to perform, and now stay within the F1 paddock, Lawson was relieved that at least the paddock was extremely welcoming. “Max has always been very good to me over the years when I was a reserve driver,” he said, noting that the four-time world champion had apparently watched a lot of his Super Formula and DTM races. “It’s not like he was keeping an eye [on me] or anything, I think he just watches that many different [racing] series that he happened to see a lot of my races.
“I would come back from a Super Formula race and Max would talk to me about something that had happened. I would be like, ‘Dude, why were you watching that?’ but it was really cool, especially when I was a reserve driver because I was wide-eyed and everything felt new to me. To have Max talking to me at that point was really cool. I took a lot of advice from him.”
It wasn't long after, less than 12 months post his first stint on the grid, that Lawson received the call to VCARB for a full-time seat. “It was more relief than anything,” he said, referencing the months of speculation that he would step into the role mid-season. “It was talked about for a long time, and I don’t think the team knew exactly what they were going to do. It was clear to me that I was most likely going to get a seat somewhere, but we just didn’t know where or how it was going to work, or even if it was real.”
There were so many theories and postulations, that Lawson didn’t even tell his parents until the deal was finalized. “There was that period before I was told where I couldn’t really talk to my parents. I couldn’t keep calling them and telling them that I still didn’t know [for certain], so I just waited until it was literally told to my face,” he said.
“I called my dad at three in the morning in New Zealand, and the phone barely rang. He picked up straight away, he was wide awake and waiting [to hear the news],” Lawson continued. “It all started with me and my dad when I was very, very young. My family has given up everything for me to be able to do this, so for them, it’s also very important.”
