Fresh from a career-best result in Austria last weekend, Liam Lawson knows he can’t rest on his laurels.
Having battled to translate promise into performance after a rocky start to the Formula One season – first with Red Bull and then with sister side Racing Bulls – last weekend hasthe potential to be the start of a turning point for the Kiwi driver.
After qualifying in sixth place at Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring, Lawson drove as close to the perfect race as he could in Austria.
Despite being hit on the opening lap, Lawson executed a one-stop strategy, managed his tyres on a hot track, and held off the challenge of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso for 66 of 70 laps to finish where he started.
The result bettered Lawson’s previous career-best of eighth, achieved at Monaco earlier this year.
Now, though, as Formula One relocates to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, Lawson knows he has to back up Austria with another performance.
“It was a really good weekend [in Austria], but it’s a new weekend here, on a very different track,” Lawson said.
“So I think the main positive is [that] the car has been very fast recently, and we want to carry that forward this weekend.
“But at the same time, Formula One has been very, very close recently. We need to chase every session, and extract everything we can. Personally, it’s the same for the drivers as well.”
One thing in Lawson’s favour, though, is his record at Silverstone.
Driving in Formula Three, Lawson finished third in his Silverstone debut in 2019, before winning there a year later, as well as claiming another third place for good measure that same year. Two years later, he added Lawson added a third third-placing, in Formula Two.
And while coincidence is not causation, Lawson had won at Austria in junior categories before last weekend’s sixth-place.
Helping Lawson’s cause, though, is his continued settling in at Racing Bulls, after his early season demotion.
In 2023 and 2024, Lawson’s 11 races with the team came under the guidance of race engineer Pierre Hamelin. However, after Lawson’s promotion to Red Bull at the end of last year, Hamelin has since become the race engineer of Isack Hadjar, Lawson’s teammate.
As a result, Lawson now works with Ernesto Desiderio. And while still new, Lawson credits that relationship as one of the reasons his displays have improved as the season has progressed.
Liam Lawson at the Austrian Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull
“There’s no single thing, like I found something in myself or we found something in the car,” he continued.
“The speed has been there for quite a while now. That doesn’t always show, but we can see it.
“Sometimes the result doesn’t come together, it’s very simple – it’s just work behind the scenes, sitting with the engineers, finding things in the car that suit you.
“The relationship with your engineer is one of the most important things. If he understands you and things you like, and doesn’t have to ask, then you start ahead of the game already.
“It’s the same with me when I’m communicating with him.”
As the first track to host a Formula One world championship grand prix, there is no other circuit like Silverstone.
The home of English motorsport perfectly blends a fast, flowing circuit, as well as several technical corners to truly test drivers.
So far this season, Racing Bulls’ car has proven itself capable of getting results on such tracks; with Lawson’s sixth in Austria, as well as Hadjar taking eighth in Japan and 10th in Saudi Arabia.
Last year’s British Grand Prix saw Racing Bulls’ two drivers - Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo - finish 10th and 13th respectively.
However, as Lawson points out, nothing is ever guaranteed, especially with very little separating the midfield teams this Formula One season.
“It’s really hard to know,” he professed. “We look at tracks and we look at last year’s results and we think it’s going to be a tough weekend or a good weekend, then it’s the opposite.
“Last year Austria wasn’t a strong track for us, and it was one of our strongest this year.
