Be selfish.
That’s the advice from former Red Bull driver David Coulthard to Liam Lawson, in deciding where his future on the Formula One grid lies.
Approaching three years since he first appeared on the grid with then-AlphaTauri, now Racing Bulls, as an injury replacement for Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson enters 2026 in arguably the most secure position of his career.
After getting the nod from Red Bull’s higher-ups to remain at Racing Bulls, Lawson is now the team’s senior driver, and will partner 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad – the only rookie on the 2026 grid.
However, that also leaves Lawson between a rock and a hard place. After being demoted from Red Bull’s senior side just two races into 2025, the Kiwi was overlooked for promotion at the end of last year, and instead saw Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar get the nod.
Now, Lawson’s career could be seen as being in limbo, leading Red Bull’s junior side with no guaranteed chance of stepping up again.
But speaking to the Herald before travelling to New Zealand for the F1 Legends tour alongside former world champion Mika Häkkinen, Coulthard says Lawson can use this season to prove his worth to another team.
“Race drivers are selfish,” he said. “He should selfishly be thinking about himself.
“This is about maximising every grand prix, this is about destroying his teammate, this is about hoping Red Bull [and] Max continue to dominate and Isack struggles.
“It’s the fickle nature [of] sport. If Hadjar has a challenging year alongside Max, he’ll fall out of favour. Liam has to selfishly believe that’s the right place for him, or put himself in the shop window.
“It is possible to leave the programme. Sebastian Vettel thanked Red Bull for the four world championships by signing with Ferrari. This is the nature of the sport.
“He needs to be ruthless now, he’s earned his place. He doesn’t need to show people his manners, we need to see everything he’s got on the racetrack.”
While leaving Red Bull would be a big step for Lawson, after the team supported his entire junior career, it wouldn’t be without precedent.
Pierre Gasly was demoted by Red Bull after 12 races in 2019, but remained at AlphaTauri until he was able to move to Alpine in 2023. Gasly’s successor, Alex Albon, suffered a similar fate, and moved to Williams in 2022.
What’s more, considering Formula One’s drastic regulations changes for the upcoming season, 12 drivers outside of Red Bull’s two teams are off contract at the end of 2026.
In the past, teams outside of Red Bull have shown interest in signing Lawson. The Herald understands Red Bull rejected an approach from Williams to take Lawson on loan for the end of the 2024 season after sacking Logan Sargeant.
The Herald also understands Audi, formerly Sauber, strongly considered the Kiwi for a seat in 2025, but were unable to negotiate terms after Red Bull activated its contractual option to keep Lawson.
Regardless, Coulthard backed Lawson to shine this season, now completely secure on the grid after his brutal treatment from Red Bull in 2025.
“He had a wobble, and it’s tough,” Coulthard said. “Many drivers go through that. I had a wobble in my first year – I was race-by-race on my contract, and literally didn’t know if I was going to the next grand prix.
“You’ve got to learn to deal with it. Liam has dealt with the challenge, now he’s broken the back of it.
“He’s a grand prix driver that we’re going to see around for several years. He’s got talent, he’s got the personality for the media and sponsors, he’s got the speed on track.
“He’s now got the steering wheel firmly in his hand. He’s going to be team leader, he’s got a young rookie who’s going to make mistakes – like all rookies do. This is his time to capitalise.”
Mika Häkkinen & David Coulthard are in Auckland as part of their speaking tour on Monday March 9.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.