Lawson parks Red Bull talk and doubles down on Racing Bulls rebuild
Liam Lawson didn’t spend 2025 pining for the senior bull. After a whiplash start to the season that saw him promoted to Red Bull next to Max Verstappen and then sent back to Racing Bulls two races later, the New Zealander says a return upstairs barely crossed his mind.
“Honestly, it wasn’t something I really thought about this year,” Lawson said ahead of Abu Dhabi. “When I came back it was a very tricky few races. The focus was on finding my feet again and getting used to this car.”
That car — the RB21 — was never quite his from the outset. Lawson missed part of pre-season as development paths were set, and he admitted the team had to tweak the package mid-year to make it “more comfortable” for him. It was a season of resets in Faenza.
The story, of course, is very Red Bull. Last December Lawson was slated to partner Verstappen, a move that leapfrogged Yuki Tsunoda and looked like the ultimate graduation from the junior team. Then came the U-turn. Two races in, Christian Horner called it a “purely sporting decision” to switch Lawson back to Racing Bulls and reinstate Tsunoda at Red Bull.
What followed wasn’t box-office for either. Lawson tallied 38 points, Tsunoda 33 (30 of those in Red Bull colours) — solid, not seismic. The one who stole the headlines was the rookie. Isack Hadjar banked 51 points and a podium at Zandvoort, and with that, Red Bull made its 2026 call: Hadjar gets the Verstappen gig.
Lawson’s response? Keep building. Keep the noise out.
“I’d missed the first part of pre-season with the direction the car was going,” he explained. “We made some changes during the season to make it a bit more comfortable… so it’s honestly not something I really thought about,” he added of a Red Bull return.
There is at least one difference for Lawson from 12 months ago: certainty. He walked into the Abu Dhabi finale already signed for a second season with Racing Bulls, lining up alongside 2026 rookie Arvid Lindblad. That call came late — but not December-late.
“After the race in Qatar, actually,” Lawson revealed. “I didn’t know before the weekend. As much as I was trying to find out, it wasn’t until after the race — and it was cool that Alan [Permane] was the one who told me.”
It doesn’t erase the pressure, but Lawson’s been living with that particular brand of unease since his reserve days.
“It’s always difficult, but it’s not new,” he said. “It’s how I felt last year. It’s how I felt as a reserve trying to get my first opportunity in Formula One. That’s how you feel in Formula One until you really establish.”
There’s a broader lesson here about the Red Bull ecosystem. Contracts are inked, then tested. Form is currency, timing is everything, and “security” is short-lived. Lawson’s year is a reminder: adaptation is the job.
What he needs now is a clean winter and a car that fits him from round one. The rhythm never really settled in 2025 — it’s hard to build momentum when your seat belt clicks in two different garages before the first long-haul is done. The speed’s there, the racecraft, too. The task for 2026 is turning that into a consistent points drumbeat.
For Racing Bulls, there’s plenty to like. Lawson’s calm under fire and a knack for managing messy Sundays, paired with Lindblad’s raw speed and energy, gives Alan Permane a line-up he can shape. And with Red Bull placing Hadjar alongside Verstappen for 2026, the senior door isn’t bolted, it’s just not where Lawson’s eyes are right now.
He’s been clear about that. Less daydreaming, more chiseling. Forget the soap opera; he wants a car he can lean on and a season without turbulence. If that happens, the rest tends to take care of itself.
