F1: Liam Lawson's confidence just fine
Photo:
ANTONIN VINCENT / PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson said his confidence has never taken a hit.
Lawson is preparing for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend with the pressure remaining well and truly on his shoulders.
He is 16th in the Drivers' Championship standings having scored points just twice in 12 races so far this season, while his Racing Bulls team is seventh out of 10 in the Constructors' Championship.
The 23-year-old started the season alongside world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull, but was demoted after just two GP's, replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.
With a three week break, Lawson has had time to reflect on the first half of the season and spoke to Formula1.com.
"Obviously, the start of the year, [we had] the big shake-up with the team switch, and then not really having the time to get to grips with things, racing every weekend, and trying to be at the level that I need to be at. It's been a lot," Lawson said.
He admits he hasn't really had a chance to process what has gone on so far, but hopes to do that when the calendar takes a four week break in August.
"We all know we have a couple more races coming up before then. You're still in that mindset, you're still thinking about what just happened, how we're going to improve in the next couple of races, and how I'm going to improve myself. You're just in it."
New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, Austria 2025.
Photo:
ALBERTO VIMERCATI / PHOTOSPORT
It has been a tough year for the young Kiwi with the difficulties of performing in the Red Bull car (which Yuki Tsunoda has struggled with also), adjusting to the new team and taking on new tracks.
"It's been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false. From the start of the year, I felt the same as I always have."
In his first two races for Racing Bulls, Lawson finished 17th in Japan and 16th in Bahrain, he also had DNF's (Did Not Finish) in Miami, Canada and Great Britain.
Limited testing time has also been an issue for Lawson for has had to familiarise himself with the car in race mode each week.
"I've just ignored everything that happened, and I've just focused on trying to drive the car - but I know there was a lot of stuff that went out that was speculation about how I was feeling.
"My confidence hasn't changed since the start of the year to now," Lawson told Formula1.com.
Remaining F1 Grands Prix:
July 27, Belgium
August 3, Hungary
August 31, Dutch
September 7, Italy (Monza)
September 21, Azerbaijan
October 5, Singapore
October 19, US (Texas)
October 26, Mexico
November 9, Brazil
November 22, Las Vegas
November 30, Qatar
December 7, Abu Dhabi
Racing Bulls F1 lineup (L to R) Iasck Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Laurent Mekies.
Photo:
ANTONIN VINCENT / AFP
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Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson is hoping to finish with more points when he lines up for this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old Racing Bulls put in a great performance at Monday's Belgian Grand Prix, making it into Q3 and crossing the finish line in eighth – bagging four points in a race marred by mixed conditions and delays. Following the race, Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said Lawson had a 'near-perfect race'. Ahead of Monday's race at the Hungaroring, Lawson said, in the context of the whole season so far, of which he has scored points in three races: "It's not enough. 'We need to be doing it on nearly every weekend if that's the target,' he said. ADVERTISEMENT 'To have two or three of those races over the first half of the season is not enough. So obviously, going forward to the second half of the year, we're trying to replicate this more.' He said the biggest challenge faced by teams and drivers this year was the closeness of the grid. Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track at Silverstone (Source: Getty) Lawson's best Q3 lap in Belgium was just over 0.1 seconds slower than Williams driver Alex Albon's, which landed him in fifth. The pace of the cars this season wasn't just influencing qualifying, Lawson said, but also race day. 'Even on tracks that are maybe easier to overtake, they're sort of difficult because you don't have a three, four, or five-tenth pace advantage, you have a one or two-tenth pace advantage.' It meant qualifying was now even more critical, which Lawson admitted had been a struggle for him this year. 'I think where our weekends are falling away, at least on my side, has been normally in an average qualifying. ADVERTISEMENT 'The main target is just extracting everything I think through practice on the weekends, making sure we have the car in the best place going into qualifying and then for me as well getting everything out of it and just doing a better job honestly.'' Hungary also marks the final race before the summer break – meaning Lawson would have finished his first half-season as a full-time driver. Reflecting on the season so far, Lawson said he was starting to find some stability after a 'rocky' and 'unexpected' start – adjusting to a new team after being dropped by Red Bull after just two races. 'We're in a better place now. But I think, in general, the speed's been there most of the year and it's nice that we're able to get a couple of good results. 'But as I said, I think as a whole we need to be doing that more. To have two or three of those races over the first half of the season is not enough.' Lawson is back on track at 11.30pm on Friday night (NZ time) for the first practice session of the weekend. Qualifying starts at 2am on Sunday, and it's lights out at 1am on Monday for the race.
