Liam Lawson: You could say I’m on standby

The motorsport press has been quite active in recent months discussing Liam Lawson’s future, with it being repeatedly mentioned that Red Bull would have to make a decision on the New Zealand driver by mid-September.

If this had not happened, Liam would have been released from his contractual obligations and entered into negotiations with other teams. Mid-September is already behind us and the Australian publication Speedcafe writes that Red Bull apparently made a decision during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and exercised its right of first refusal on Lawson’s services.

Although this has not been officially confirmed, it does suggest that Liam has been invited to take part in the new episode of Talking Bull, the official podcast of the Red Bull press office. Lawson mainly talked about how he once ended up in the youth program of an Austrian company.

“The funny thing is I was playing in New Zealand when I got signed,” Liam recalls. “We have a championship there called the Toyota Racing Series, and it’s very popular. A lot of Formula 1 drivers have been through it: Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and a few other guys raced there.

It usually starts in January and lasts for five weeks. During this time it is summer in New Zealand, but much colder in Europe and the US and there are no races. Therefore, racers from different championships come to us, and at a very high level.

As a child, when I was already interested in Formula 1, I watched the races of this New Zealand series every year and dreamed of one day participating in it. Back then, it was quite similar to F1 for me. And finally I got the chance to participate, even though it was already after my first year in Europe.

My teammate in the Toyota Racing Series at that time was Lukas Auer, and as far as I can understand Helmut Marko was following his performance. And I showed a very good result in my first weekend, but I didn’t expect at all that they would make me an offer.

Becoming a junior driver at Red Bull was something very special for me. I remember the year before, when I was racing in Formula 4 in Europe, I once worked on tests in Hockenheim with Jack Douhan, who was part of this program at the time.

“I remember seeing him walking down the pit lane in his Red Bull overalls and thinking how cool he looked and how cool it was to be a Red Bull junior. And then, a few days after the first weekend of the New Zealand series, I was offered the job – I remember exactly when I found out when I was sitting in a pub. I also remember being so surprised that I couldn’t even walk! Of course, I was a prisoner of emotions, but at the same time I was experiencing very strange sensations.”

Of course, Liam won the Toyota Racing Series title in 2019, made his Formula 3 debut that same year and moved up to F2 in 2021, but at the same time competed in the DTM touring car series and became vice-champion.

After this, he began his association with AlphaTauri and Red Bull Racing as a test driver and reserve driver, and last season Lawson made his Formula 1 debut, replacing the injured Daniel Ricciardo, spending five races with the Faenza team.

“At the moment my role is mainly working in the simulator,” Liam said of his current responsibilities. “Because I’m a reserve driver I don’t compete in races – in fact, probably for the first time since I was 7 years old I don’t compete in championships.

It’s all very strange, but now my work is mostly behind the scenes, although without competition it’s obviously difficult for me, especially because I did several races in Formula 1 last year, and it was an absolutely great experience. But now we can say that I’m in standby mode…”

It’s likely that Liam’s wait will end soon, but for now we have to wait for official confirmation from Red Bull.