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RNZ News
5 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Liam Lawson not thinking about a return to Red Bull
New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson and partner Hannah St John. Photo: MPS AGENCY / PHOTOSPORT New Zealand driver Liam Lawson said he is concentrating on performing for his Racing Bulls team and is not thinking about a potential return to Red Bull. Formula 1 is on a four week summer break with round 15 in the Netherlands at the end of August. The 23-year-old started the season in the second Red Bull seat alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen. However he was dumped after two rounds and forced to swap seats with Yuki Tsunoda. Since picking up his first points at Monaco in May, Lawson has accumulated 20 points and sits 15th in the Drivers' Championship, while Tsunoda has failed to pick up any points in that time and is 18th in the standings. Lawson and Racing Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar have both shown consistency recently and their names have now been mentioned as possible drivers alongside Verstappen in Red Bull's top team in 2026. With engine supplier Honda leaving Red Bull next year it has been suggested that they may take Tsunoda with them to Aston Martin. "Honestly, in terms of my future, it's been so busy this year that I'm not really thinking about it," Lawson told "I'm focused on having some good races. Obviously, we've had some recently, but three of them isn't enough over 12 races, or however many it's been, so we need to do more of this, and then we'll see." New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. Photo: MPS AGENCY / PHOTOSPORT Lawson was the best placed of all the Red Bull-supported drivers at this month's Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished eighth, just ahead of Verstappen with Hadjar 11th and Tsunoda 17th. New Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said he had been impressed by Lawson's progress since his breakthrough result (sixth) in Austria. Tsunoda's struggles meanwhile in the top team this year opens up all options for that seat in 2026. There are unlikely to be any changes this season, but Red Bull have shown that they can be cut-throat after dropping Lawson in March and tossing aside team principal Christian Horner last month. Hadjar appeared the obvious choice to move up to Red Bull, but he has been matched by Lawson in recent races. The Frenchman has been urged to stay with Racing Bulls to work on his craft before taking over one of the top cars which are obviously harder to drive. The team does have two potential debutants in reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa and Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad who won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand last summer. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is a big supporter of 18-year-old Lindblad. There are also a number of veteran drivers who don't have seats confirmed for next year. More success for Lawson over the remaining 10 rounds and anything is possible. Racing Bulls F1 lineup (L to R) Iasck Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Laurent Mekies. Photo: ANTONIN VINCENT / AFP Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Watch: Sir John Walker broke the world record for the mile 50 years ago today
It was 50 years ago today that Sir John Walker achieved one of the great moments in New Zealand athletics. On 12 August 1975 Walker broke the world record for the mile. Twenty-three-year-old Walker lined up at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden with the aim of breaking the record and also wanting to go under three minutes and 50 seconds. Tanzanian Filbert Bayi, Walker's great rival from the 1974 Commonwealth Games, had set a new mark of 3:51.0 in May 1975. Sir John Walker and coach, Arch Jelley, 1980. Photo: Bayi had beaten Walker for gold in the 1500m final at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, breaking that world record along the way. Walker's coach Arch Jelley said Walker went to Europe in 1975 in great form. "We thought he would do it," Jelley told RNZ. "He was in very good shape. I always thought he was capable of doing it and on that day in Gothenburg if he'd been paced he would have done very much faster." Walker had to do it all himself over the latter part of the race as he was cheered on by a vocal crowd who new a world best time was on the cards. "I knew as soon as I crossed the line, the reaction from the crowd that I had broken the world record, but I didn't know that I had run under 3:50," Walker said some years later. "It wasn't until a watch was thrust under my face that I realised I'd broken 3:50." He didn't just break the record, he smashed it taking 1.6 seconds off the time set by Bayi a month earlier. John Walker running the 1500m at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Photo: Photosport His time of 3:49.4 was exactly 10 seconds faster than Roger Bannister did 21 years earlier when he became the first person to break the four minute barrier for the mile. His achievement followed the likes of fellow New Zealand greats Jack Lovelock, Yvette Williams, Marise Chamberlain and Sir Peter Snell to have broken world records. Coach Jelley said getting an early phone call at his home in Auckland with the news that Walker had broken the record was something he would never forget. "Absolutely because when I woke up on August the 13th it was my birthday (53rd birthday) and John had just broken the world record, so it was a very good birthday present." The achievement shot Walker into stardom, however at the time he didn't realise the significance of it. "It wasn't until I got back to the hotel room when all the adulation had died down, the victory laps, the kisses, the flowers the waving to the crowd had gone, it wasn't until I got back to the hotel room and settled down with a couple of beers that the phone started ringing from all over the world, then I realised what I'd done." Sir John Walker went on to win the Olympic gold in 1976, while his mile record stood until 1979 when it was lowered by Sebastian Coe. Walker now lives with Parkinson's disease. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
34 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Sir John Walker broke the world record for the mile 50 years ago today
John Walker running the 1500m at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Photo: Photosport It was 50 years ago today that Sir John Walker achieved one of the great moments in New Zealand athletics. On 12 August 1975 Walker broke the world record for the mile. Twenty-three-year-old Walker lined up at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden with the aim of breaking the record and also wanting to go under three minutes and 50 seconds. Tanzanian Filbert Bayi, Walker's great rival from the 1974 Commonwealth Games, had set a new mark of 3:51.0 in May 1975. Sir John Walker and coach, Arch Jelley, 1980. Photo: Bayi had beaten Walker for gold in the 1500m final at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, breaking that world record along the way. Walker's coach Arch Jelley said Walker went to Europe in 1975 in great form. "We thought he would do it," Jelley told RNZ. "He was in very good shape. I always thought he was capable of doing it and on that day in Gothenburg if he'd been paced he would have done very much faster." Walker had to do it all himself over the latter part of the race as he was cheered on by a vocal crowd who new a world best time was on the cards. "I knew as soon as I crossed the line, the reaction from the crowd that I had broken the world record, but I didn't know that I had run under 3:50," Walker said some years later. "It wasn't until a watch was thrust under my face that I realised I'd broken 3:50." He didn't just break the record, he smashed it taking 1.6 seconds off the time set by Bayi a month earlier. His time of 3:49.4 was exactly 10 seconds faster than Roger Bannister did 21 years earlier when he became the first person to break the four minute barrier for the mile. His achievement followed the likes of fellow New Zealand greats Jack Lovelock, Yvette Williams, Marise Chamberlain and Sir Peter Snell to have broken world records. Coach Jelley said getting an early phone call at his home in Auckland with the news that Walker had broken the record was something he would never forget. "Absolutely because when I woke up on August the 13th it was my birthday (53rd birthday) and John had just broken the world record, so it was a very good birthday present." The achievement shot Walker into stardom, however at the time he didn't realise the significance of it. "It wasn't until I got back to the hotel room when all the adulation had died down, the victory laps, the kisses, the flowers the waving to the crowd had gone, it wasn't until I got back to the hotel room and settled down with a couple of beers that the phone started ringing from all over the world, then I realised what I'd done." Sir John Walker went on to win the Olympic gold in 1976, while his mile record stood until 1979 when it was lowered by Sebastian Coe. Walker now lives with Parkinson's disease. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
