Liam Lawson’s day at Goodwood had the kind of unscripted twist you don’t often get in modern motorsport: the Racing Bulls driver simply saw a car that matters to him, walked over, asked the question, and ended up driving it.
Not just any car, either. The #2 Ford GT40 — the machine raced to victory at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans by fellow New Zealanders Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, at the head of Ford’s famous 1-2-3 finish. In Lawson’s world, that’s more than a museum piece. It’s motorsport heritage with a Kiwi accent.
Lawson wasn’t even slated to run the GT40 at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed. He’d already had plenty to do, taking turns in a Gunther Werks F26 Porsche and Ford’s Supervan 4. But the GT40 was there, and for Lawson the temptation clearly wasn’t negotiable.
A request went in. The owner said yes. And suddenly, a current F1 driver was strapping into one of the sport’s most iconic endurance winners, pointing it up the Goodwood hill like it was the most normal thing in the world — even if his body language afterwards suggested the opposite.
Interviewed while still sitting in the car after his run, Lawson admitted he wasn’t exactly ready to hand the keys back.
“My hands are still shaking,” he said. “So very, very special. Obviously, a lot of New Zealand history in this car.
“I got to drive something similar. I got to drive a road-going GT40 last year, and the whole time all I could think about was this car.
“I didn’t expect to come here and drive it. I saw it today, and I asked, ‘Can I please? That’d be really, really special.’ And the owner was kind enough to let me drive it. So very, very special.”
There was something telling in how quickly he framed it as a long-held ambition rather than a fun extra at a festival. When it was suggested this was a bucket-list moment, Lawson didn’t hesitate.
“100 per cent,” he said. “That’s why everyone’s out of their cars, and I’m still sitting in there. So I’m probably going to stay in here for a little bit.”
If you’ve spent any time around F1 drivers away from the paddock, you’ll know the species tends to split into two types: the ones who treat everything on four wheels as “content”, and the ones who still get genuinely starry-eyed when machinery carries meaning. Lawson was firmly the latter here, and he didn’t bother hiding it.
Nor did he pretend he drove it like it was made of glass. Part of the GT40’s appeal is that it doesn’t flatter you — it demands commitment and it delivers sensation in return. Lawson’s description was the kind you only get when someone’s adrenaline hasn’t quite come down yet.
“The feeling you get when driving a car like this is completely indescribable,” he said. “It’s not like anything that we drive currently. The vibration, sort of the frequency, the noise.
“I was given an RPM limit not to go over, but you just can’t help yourself. I didn’t go over it too much! You just can’t help yourself. When it starts coming up in the RPM and the car just starts singing, it’s incredible. It was very, very enjoyable for me.”
That last detail — the “RPM limit” and the cheeky admission he brushed up against it — felt perfectly on brand for a modern F1 driver being temporarily dropped into an era where there’s less insulation between man, machine and consequence. Goodwood, at its best, still gives you that.
The timing is neat, too. Lawson arrived at the festival in the middle of what has been his strongest season in Formula 1 to date. In 2026, he’s only missed out on points twice, and his 39-point haul has him sitting 10th in the drivers’ standings — the sort of steady, week-in-week-out return that does more for your reputation inside the paddock than any single viral moment.
Still, it’s hard not to smile at the contrast: a driver spending his working life in a world of relentless optimisation, then having his day made by an old Le Mans bruiser that communicates through vibration and noise. Lawson didn’t come to Goodwood expecting to drive the GT40 — he just couldn’t leave without trying. And judging by how long he stayed in the cockpit afterwards, he’d have happily camped there for the afternoon if nobody had told him to move.
