Formula 1: Liam Lawson won’t have Supercars stint despite Australian reports

Liam Lawson will not take part in the New Zealand-based rounds of Supercars while Formula One is on an enforced break, the Herald understands.

On Wednesday, Australia’s MotorRacing 360 reported that Supercars had approached teams to vacate a seat for Lawson, in order to have the Racing Bulls driver compete in one of the two Kiwi legs of the series, to be held in Taupō and Christchurch.

Formula One is now on a break until the first week of May, after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix were cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East.

However, while the timings would line up with Formula One not returning until the start of May, the Herald understands that there have been no formal discussions with Lawson or his management over the move.

In response to the Herald’s inquiries about Supercars’ interest in Lawson, a spokesperson said “it was an idea that came up to have a crack at making something happen. Definitely an idea, but it hadn’t gone much further than that”.

Lawson would, in theory, receive a wildcard to race at the Taupō Super 440 from April 10 to 12, and the Christchurch Super 440 from April 17 to 19, provided a seat was made available for him.

The Herald understands Lawson will be in New Zealand briefly during the Formula One break to renew his passport, but will return to Europe before the Taupō weekend.

It is unclear whether Lawson would be able to extend his stay in order to compete, if a spot were to be made available for him and the opportunity interested him, considering commitments to Racing Bulls.

Another potential roadblock would come in the form of finding the Kiwi a race seat.

While Supercars would be within their rights to ask one of the 13 teams to vacate one of their cars, only one – Triple Eight Racing – is backed by Red Bull.

Given both Broc Feeney and Will Brown are considered championship contenders for the 2026 title, it is highly unlikely either would be prepared to sit out a race weekend and therefore give up points to count towards their season total.

Lawson has entered Formula One’s break off the back of two positive race weekends.

In China he claimed seventh-placed finishes in both the sprint and grand prix, and backed those drives up with ninth in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka last weekend.

All up, Lawson sits 10th in the Formula One drivers’ championship, with 10 points from three race weekends, six points of rookie Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad.

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