Liam Lawson, born on 11 February 2002 in Hastings, New Zealand, began his motorsport career at seven at the Mount Wellington kart track in Auckland. In the 2016/17 season he became the youngest ever champion of the New Zealand Formula 1600 series with fourteen wins, having already won all fifteen races of a prior Formula Ford season.
At sixteen Lawson moved to Europe and joined the Red Bull Junior Team. Via Formula 3 and a runner-up finish in the 2021 DTM alongside Alex Albon, his path led to Formula 2, where he finished third in 2022, and to Japan’s Super Formula in 2023, where he was also runner-up.
He made his Formula 1 debut in 2023 at the Dutch Grand Prix, standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri, and took over that seat again from Singapore 2024 for the rest of the season. His promotion to Red Bull Racing as Max Verstappen’s team-mate for 2025 lasted just two races: after a retirement in Australia and a points-less 12th place in China, he was moved back to Racing Bulls in favour of Yuki Tsunoda, finishing the season with a career-best fifth place in Azerbaijan.
He was confirmed at Racing Bulls for 2026, this time alongside rookie Arvid Lindblad. Away from the track, Lawson auctioned his first race car in aid of a mental health charity.
Liam Lawson in the News
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Lawson and Tsunoda Stay in Place: Hadjar’s Injury Lingers Into Monza
The driver shuffle from Zandvoort continues: Isack Hadjar’s hand injury is healing slower than hoped, so Lawson and…
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Antonelli Sets Pace in Only Practice Session, Verstappen Struggles with Understeer
With just one session to fine-tune on sprint weekend at Zandvoort, the championship leader makes the most of…
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Red Bull Reshuffle: Lawson Steps Up to Red Bull Racing, Tsunoda Returns at Racing Bulls
A wrist injury sustained during the summer break forces both Red Bull teams to reorganize their driver lineup…