In his bid to impress Red Bull for a 2025 race seat, the Kiwi continues to do everything right, on a weekend that his team will look back on with fondness.
But in the wider context of Formula One, Interlagos was significant for more reason than one.
Here’s what we learned from Monday’s dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix:
A man for all seasons
Sure, motorsport might seem easy when conditions are in your favour. However, once rain starts falling, you see who the real skilful drivers are.
As Mother Nature had her say at Interlagos, Monday’s race became less and less about which driver had the fastest car – as seen by Max Verstappen winning from 17th on the grid.
In Lawson’s case, with the exception of being clipped by Oscar Piastri (who was penalised 10 seconds for it), the Kiwi did brilliantly to stay out of any real trouble.
Meanwhile, the trio of Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull rival Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were all forced to recover after spinning in the treacherous conditions, and suffered because of it.
Between them, those four drivers have nine world championship titles, and 147 race wins. Lawson has none of either - for now.
Lose the battle, win the war
It’s very quickly become the narrative of the entire grid, but Red Bull need to get Lawson v Perez settled once and for all.
On Sunday, Perez claimed bragging rights with seventh to Lawson’s eighth – and therefore one point – in the sprint race.
However, with Lawson qualifying fifth and finishing ninth to Perez’s 13th and 11th, the Kiwi took the Brazil contest in straight sets.
While senior adviser Dr Helmut Marko has said no decision over Verstappen’s future partner will be made until after the season ends, Red Bull have missed the point of making change where it could have saved their season.
Not sacking Perez in the summer break will cost Red Bull tens of millions of dollars as the difference between winning the constructors championship, and finishing third.
And with a reported out-clause in Max Verstappen’s contract if Red Bull are lower than third in 2025, keeping Perez for any longer than they have to will only damage the team.
The only question will be whether Lawson is ready to make such a significant step up with such little experience.
Defence wins championships
Legendary college American football coach Bear Bryant famously once said “offence sells tickets, but defence wins championships”.
While he wasn’t referring specifically to Formula One, those words told true over the course of 69 laps. In horrible conditions, Lawson managed to show his wares defending against three drivers in superior cars.
The opening sector of the race saw him hold off the challenge of Piastri for more than 20 laps, before the faster car ultimately told.
Then, following a red flag and restart that saw both RB cars struggle, Lawson did the same to fend off the challenge of Sergio Perez – a timely metaphor for RB’s driver conundrum – and then the same to Lewis Hamilton.
Overtaking is one thing, but not being overtaken in return is just as important. Lawson is showing he can do both.
Team player
As we’d already seen in Austin and Mexico, Lawson doesn’t make it easy for cars to get around him.
Be it Alonso, Perez, Piastri or Hamilton, many drivers have had to learn the hard way that the Kiwi’s lack of experience doesn’t mean they’re in for an easy time.
The one exception? Max Verstappen.
As the world champion made his way from 17th to take the chequered flag, Lawson let his superior past without a fight.
Make no mistake, those instructions would have come from the very top at Red Bull. That’s to be expected, Verstappen is in a superior car, fighting for a championship.
What’s more interesting, though, is that clearly no such instructions have come about Perez.
Red Bull clearly want to see what happens when the two come wheel to wheel, and are getting full value if the last two weeks are anything to go by.
Unless the decision as to who will partner Verstappen next year has already been made, it’s hard to see a world where Lawson doesn’t have his nose in front.
Don’t forget Yuki
Admittedly, while the last three races have very much been about which of Lawson or Perez will win the 2025 Red Bull seat, Yuki Tsunoda did himself no harm - on track at least.
The Herald understands that heading to Brazil, there was little chance of Tsunoda being promoted next season, given his Red Bull career is intrinsically linked to engine supplier Honda.
However, when Honda leave the team in 2026 to join Aston Martin, it’s widely expected Tsunoda will follow. Unless he’s in a Red Bull.
Qualifying third and finishing seventh has done Tsunoda’s chances a world of good to beat Lawson and Perez to that seat.
The only question for Red Bull will be if they want to give him a year in their car, only to (in all likelihood) lose him in 2026.
