Liam Lawson respects Alan Permane’s opinion, but he reiterates that his confidence didn’t need to be put up after his switch from Red Bull to Visa Cash App RB.
The confidence topic has long been associated with Lawson, especially when he was moved back to Visa Cash App RB after a two-race stint to start the 2025 F1 season with Red Bull. The team bosses noted about the Kiwi’s confidence, which took a hit after a big surprise in the first two races.
In the races since, Lawson has picked up his pace and has managed to eke out good results against a formidable competition in the form of Isack Hadjar. The question of confidence has always stayed in his court and the Kiwi has always maintained that he never lost confidence at all.
At the halfway mark of 2025 F1 season, new team principal Permane once again noted about having to pick up Lawson when he returned to the team’s fold. He admitted that the Kiwi wouldn’t like him saying this, but he feels it is not a big issue and confidence can take a hit in such circumstances.
“Yeah, he’s done a great job, honestly,” said Permane, when asked about Lawson’s progress. “Two races at Red Bull, obviously, were very tough for him. He won’t thank me for saying this, but he definitely was a bit downbeat. He didn’t have a spring in his step, and we’ve done what we can to help him there. To jump in our car straight away without having tested it was, of course, not easy.
“He’s up against Isack who has been outstanding this year. First race for him was Japan and Isack was absolutely flying there. So, it’s a tough introduction for him, but we’ve made some changes. He’s worked hard. Him and his engineering team have worked really, really hard. We had a bit of a breakthrough in Austria. We had a new front suspension for him, which they developed through the simulator, and he really liked it, was really enthusiastic about it, and it worked there.
“We saw in Spa [and Hungary], he’s performing. You could see after that race… Monaco was a decent race for him, but Austria, he had a spring back in his step,” summed up Permane. But when Lawson was told about Permane’s statement about having to pick him up, the Kiwi was adamant that it was not the case.
He respected his opinion, but reiterated that he knows about himself more than anyone else. “Everybody is going to have their own opinions and are going to make judgments when they see somebody, that’s fine, but I know how I feel,” said Lawson, in a short answer. The Kiwi, in fact, has 20 points which is same as Pierre Gasly, and he is only two points below Hadjar.
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