Formula 1: Liam Lawson banking on Imola experience to end 2025 slump

As he looks to break free of his Formula One slump, Liam Lawson can bank on his own experience, and his team’s past record at Imola’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Following a week off after Miami that saw Lawson stripped of a points finish in the sprint race, and forced to retire from the Grand Prix after a first-lap incident with Alpine’s Jack Doohan, the Formula One grid has returned to Europe, for the first of three races in as many weeks.

But after a string of results that have seen some sections of the motorsport world begin to put pressure on the 23-year-old, Imola will be a welcome race for Lawson.

While his struggles in Miami can be put down to Lawson having never driven on the circuit before, the Kiwi can and will bank on his experience in the north of Italy.

As a junior, Lawson raced at Imola in the 2022 Formula Two season, and tested a previous Red Bull car at the circuit. Being based in the Italian city of Faenza, Imola is one of two home grands prix for Racing Bulls, despite its links to the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull senior side.

What’s more, as a team, Racing Bulls - as well as its former moniker AlphaTauri - have also pulled off results at the track.

In 2021, Pierre Gasly finished seventh at Imola, while Yuki Tsunoda did the same one year later for Red Bull’s sister side. Last year, Tsunoda also managed 10th for good measure.

And speaking on Formula One’s media day overnight, Lawson explained that he has plenty to be confident about this weekend.

“I’m pretty happy, every weekend you get more comfortable,” he said. “Also, we’re coming to tracks we’ve been to as well. Miami was a tricky one.

“In general, to be honest, I’ve felt pretty comfortable in the car. We’ve had good speed in the car, but there’s a lot of variables in F1.

“To get a whole weekend together has been quite tough recently. We’re going to try and do the best we can this week, at a home race for the team.”

Naturally, though, there will be questions around Lawson’s confidence.

While this year has seen flashes of the speed that convinced Red Bull to promote him into their senior team, Lawson is yet to truly put everything together over a single weekend.

In Bahrain, he was penalised for over-aggressive overtakes, while the same can be said for the Miami sprint, where he was judged to have taken out Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at turn 12.

The counter-argument, though, is that it would be more of a worry had Lawson not attempted such risky moves in the first place.

And with question marks over his confidence, Lawson says that he’s still the same driver that burst onto the scene in 2023, and knocked world champion Max Verstappen out of qualifying in Singapore.

“I would say I never stopped [being confident], to be honest,” he professed. “It’s been a tricky year so far.

“There’s been some really tough weekends. Personally, I’ve always felt really comfortable driving the car.

“I feel that, as much as I’m still learning, that’s something that hasn’t really changed.

“For this weekend, I’ve been fortunate to test here in the past. But it is a really intense track, [it’s] old school.

“For us, as drivers, we’re quite excited by that.”

Free practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix begins on Friday night (NZ time).

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.