Liam Lawson Admits Zero Testing and Early Mistakes Ruined His Shot at Red Bull Racing
When Liam Lawson was suddenly promoted to the senior Red Bull Racing team alongside Max Verstappen for the start of the 2025 season, it was supposed to be the ultimate realization of a childhood dream. Instead, the promotion turned into an incredibly brief and brutal nightmare. After just two disastrous race weekends, the New Zealander was shockingly demoted back to Racing Bulls, swapping seats with Yuki Tsunoda.
Now, Lawson has finally opened up about the immense pressure and lack of preparation that doomed his stint before it even began. Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Lawson detailed exactly why he felt completely unready for the RB21 seat during a remarkably candid segment of the interview.
The Testing Deficit and Early Mistakes
The problems for Lawson began long before the lights went out for the first race of the season. Replacing Sergio Perez in a championship-contending car requires absolute confidence in the machinery, but Lawson revealed that his pre-season time in the car was practically non-existent.
“I could have done a better job in some ways, but I think the way we did no testing, I did half a day in Jerez before the season, and even then, our Bahrain testing was very compromised as well, we had some issues, and I just went into the first weekend very unprepared.”
Despite the massive lack of mileage, Lawson attempted to rely on his own natural self-belief, a trait he has leaned heavily on throughout his entire motorsport journey. However, the incredibly tight margins of the Formula 1 grid quickly turned that lack of preparation into a massive liability.
“I just kept telling myself that: ‘I’ll just deal with it, it’ll be fine.’ I think we all back ourselves, but with how close it was last year, like if I’m three-tenths off Max, I’m out in Q1 pretty much.”
Lawson In A Downward Spiral in Melbourne and China
The situation only worsened as the season rapidly progressed. When the paddock arrived in Melbourne, Lawson’s track time was once again severely compromised, completely ruining his qualifying preparation.
“I don’t think (we) did a good job at all, but then maybe I could have done a better job as well, and then in Melbourne, I had missed FP3 with an engine issue, in which we had planned to do two soft tyre runs before qualifying, so I went into qualifying with no soft tyre running, and then I made mistakes, and that’s where I got knocked out, and then I’m starting the race at the back.”
By the time the team reached the Chinese Grand Prix, the pressure was at a boiling point. Not only was Lawson trying to find his footing, but the entire Red Bull team was deeply unhappy with the RB21’s handling characteristics, with even Max Verstappen complaining about the car’s performance. To make matters worse, China was a Sprint weekend at a track Lawson had absolutely no prior experience driving on.
“And then we went to China, and it was a Sprint weekend. I’d never driven there, and it was just kind of the same kind of thing, trying to just make up for lack of preparation, and just mistakes, like little mistakes.”
Ultimately, that desperate lack of preparation culminated in a radical setup gamble in China that completely “destroyed” Lawson’s race and resulted in his immediate demotion. While Lawson acknowledges he could have done a better job, his candid reflection proves that throwing a rookie into a championship fight with virtually zero testing is a recipe for disaster.
