THE FACTS
This wasn’t the first time Liam Lawson got the better of Max Verstappen on track – but it was the better of the two.
After qualifying ninth for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lawson made up just one position in the race itself. That place, though, was the four-time world champion.
Already on a high after points finishes in Monaco, Austria and Belgium, Hungary sees Lawson head into the summer break with all of the momentum at Racing Bulls and with a statement made to Red Bull in his hope of promotion.
And with a month off before the season resumes in the Netherlands, Lawson can lap up some due accolades over the coming weeks.
Here’s what we learned in Hungary.
When Lawson took sixth in Austria, as Red Bull’s best car, that came off the back of Verstappen being taken out by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap.
This time, the world champion has no excuse. As the lights went out, Lawson got Verstappen off the line and held the position into turn one, even if he lost that place on the second lap.
But once Lawson made his one-stop strategy work and grabbed hold of eighth, Verstappen – even with a faster car, fresher tyres and the ability to use his Drag Reduction System (DRS) – couldn’t get around the Kiwi.
On top of the four points to Racing Bulls’ cause, being the best Red Bull car is another huge tick in Lawson’s column for where he’ll end up in 2026.
The Herald understands he’ll definitely be on the grid, but suggestions he’ll stay at Racing Bulls as a leader might have been premature.
Now, he has evidence in the fact that – when things are in his favour – he can go toe to toe with arguably the best to ever do it. What’s more, new Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies also had a front-row seat.
If things can continue at this rate, Lawson could well be racing Verstappen in the same car, rather than an inferior one.
As has now been the ongoing narrative of the season, Lawson’s promotion hopes have again been boosted by beating his teammate, Isack Hadjar.
It’s now been five grands prix since Hadjar scored a point – conveniently overlooking his sprint race result in Belgium – having flown out of the blocks in 2025. Since the Monaco Grand Prix, though, Lawson has outscored Hadjar 20-15.
But it’s not just what Hadjar’s doing, or not doing, it’s how he’s doing it.
In England, he ended his own race by crashing into the back of Kimi Antonelli. In Belgium, he complained of a power unit issue, before finishing last on track. Then, in Hungary, he was outqualified by Lawson then got stuck in traffic attempting to undercut him.
Form in motorsport can be hard to find and easy to lose. That form, though, is now firmly in Lawson’s favour.
Make no mistake, Hadjar rightfully leads Lawson in the drivers’ championship, given his better results over the course of the first 14 races of the year.
However, in a sport where recency bias is so significant, only time will tell who the summer break has come at the right time for.
There’s no doubting it anymore. While Lawson’s start to 2025 left a lot to be desired, the results of the past three months show that he’s not just back to his best, he’s finding new levels.
Lawson’s junior career successes were built off the back of his aggression, his ability to overtake drivers. Now, if Belgium and Hungary are anything to go by, his defence – being able to keep positions from faster cars behind – has come to the fore.
Part of the reason why Red Bull have always rated the Kiwi so highly is because of the similarity he has to Verstappen. And while that didn’t eventuate by being able to extract the same performances out of the troublesome RB21, Lawson is showing that there is still a quality driver in there.
While Lawson himself has asserted his confidence wasn’t hit by being demoted so suddenly by Red Bull, it’s only natural that results did suffer.
Now, though, it looks as though a serious corner has been turned.
Of the four times Lawson’s finished in the points, three of them have come off the back of a one-stop strategy.
The exception – Monaco – was only such after the FIA changed the regulations to ensure a second pit stop was required to try to alter what’s become the most predictable race on the calendar.
One-stop strategies aren’t easy for scoring points. A driver will have to get through a long first stint, with ageing tyres, and hold as many positions against rivals pitting and therefore gaining an advantage once they’ve made their stops.
While risky, the flipside is that the driver will gain track position, if they can make it work.
That’s only half the battle, though. Once a driver has taken their one and only stop, they still have to overtake any drivers who passed them while in the pits – admittedly with the advantage now in their favour.
Making that advantage count has become Lawson’s bread and butter.
In Hungary, Lawson beat not only Verstappen’s Red Bull, but Sir Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari and Antonelli’s Mercedes – all faster cars than the Racing Bulls.
If Racing Bulls are to score points in the second part of the season as convincingly as they did in the first, they’ve now got as good a blueprint as any to make it happen.
For those of us who stay up to ungodly hours watching these races, the summer break can’t come at a better time.
And after we’ve had a good four weeks’ rest, the season will resume at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Aside from the obvious storyline of McLaren potentially wrapping up the constructors’ title on Verstappen’s home ground, there’s a nice bit of symmetry for Lawson.
Zandvoort is where his Formula One career began, when he filled in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo in 2023.
On that occasion, Lawson finished a very credible 13th place, with next to no practice time, and qualifying at the back of the grid.
Now, nearly two years on, here’s hoping his experience in motorsport’s pinnacle can see him carry on what we’ve seen in recent weeks.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.