Liam Lawson says he expects to be judged and scrutinised a lot in the first couple years of F1 career, as he notes how it feels like in go-kart when changing cars.
The F1 2025 was the first year for Lawson, where he had a full season to showcase his performance. But it was still a season of halves considering he started with Red Bull and was sent back to Visa Cash App RB from Round 3 onward. The only solace is that he did all the 24 races of a season.
Previously, he only did two seasons but only handful of races in the second half. For three seasons now, Lawson has been on the receiving end of judgment and scrutiny, even more so being part of the Red Bull family, who have a history of quick decisions relating to their drivers.
But Lawson is fine with it. He accepts that the first few seasons is the time when a F1 driver has to prove his credentials. Once he has done that, he becomes a valuable asset for teams and you prolong your career. The next best apart from title wins, is race wins and podium finishes for any driver.
“Yeah, but I think that’s the nature of your first couple of years, you’re in F1, your first year of F1 is the most important,” said Lawson to media. “It’s really the year where you prove whether you stay in the sport. I think it’s more guys probably get, lose their drive after one or two seasons of Formula 1than after multiple seasons.
“Once you secure a seat for a few years, you’re known to be a valuable, obviously, driver. I think it’s getting to that point and I think especially in this team and, and the Red Bull environment, that’s how it’s always been. So, it’s nothing new. Obviously, I’d love to have the comfort of being secure, but at the same time I’ve only ever known this sort of pressure, in this sort of environment.
“So, it’s what I know,” summed up Lawson, who recalls the return to Visa Cash App RB after two rounds with Red Bull, where he felt he was a kid driving in go-karts, where things felt different everytime for every driver. Even a small change makes a world of a difference to a driver and he has to re-adjust to the environment.
That’s what happened with Lawson when he returned to Visa Cash App RB and had to reacclimatise to the surroundings. “I think back to being a kid and driving a go-kart and, and you don’t just get in a go-kart and everything’s…it’s not the same for everybody,” said Lawson. “Everyone has lightly different steering wheel height adjustments.
“They have different pedal setups, they have different seat angles, they have different… a lot of different things. Very small things can make a big difference to that comfort level that you need. And I think getting in a Formula 1 car, we have a lot of things we can adjust. And I think it’s just stuff like that, a couple of little things to make me more comfortable and drive a bit more comfortably that gave me a bit more feel. And I think that’s where it comes from,” summed up Lawson.
Here’s Arvid Lindblad in new Red Bull video
Here’s Visa Cash App RB revealing race suits