Liam Lawson is one of Formula 1’s six new full-time drivers on the 2025 grid having replaced Sergio Perez at Red Bull, despite only starting 11 Grands Prix in his career.
The 23-year-old will not officially count as a rookie for Formula 1’s record books owing to his five cameos for AlphaTauri in 2023 plus six races for RB in 2024. But Lawson has taken over one of the most coveted Formula 1 drives after Red Bull promoted the Kiwi to replace Perez.
Red Bull released Perez from his contract for the 2025 season in December after costing the Milton Keynes natives the defence of the Formula 1 constructors’ championship. Perez only had 34.8% of the 437 points that Max Verstappen scored for his fourth-straight drivers’ title.
Guenther Steiner expects Liam Lawson to face a ‘difficult’ time at Red Bull
But while Lawson is not officially one of the rookies on the 2025 Formula 1 grid with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan and Isack Hadjar – his replacement at Racing Bulls – Guenther Steiner thinks it will be tough for the Kiwi no matter how well he performs.
Even if Lawson excels in the RB21 beside Verstappen, Steiner also still feels the Red Bull gem has a mountain to climb as he learns how to handle a front-running Formula 1 car after only 11 Grand Prix starts. He has even only got points in three Grands Prix, with each a P9 finish.
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Steiner said, via quotes by Motorsport-Total: “Admittedly, Liam is no longer a real rookie but he hasn’t driven a full season yet. That just makes it more difficult because the catch with a rookie is that even if he is super good, he still has a lot to learn.”
Liam Lawson faces a difficult start to his Red Bull career at tracks he has never raced on
Lawson scored his first F1 points at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix on a weekend he was the fastest driver among the Red Bull family in qualifying as the only one to get into Q3. The Kiwi put his AlphaTauri P10 on the grid, while Verstappen and Perez got P11 and P13 for Red Bull.
Visa Cash App RB (now Racing Bulls) also saw Lawson bag his second F1 points in his debut drive of the 2024 season at the United States Grand Prix. He even climbed into the points at the Circuit of the Americas, where he also came P16 in the F1 Sprint, after qualifying in P15.
Now, the Hastings native will look to pick up podiums and potentially race wins. But Red Bull are clear that Lawson is Verstappen’s No2, so will have to support the Dutchman’s pursuit of a fifth consecutive drivers’ title alongside their team’s hopes of taking the constructors’ title.
Lawson also faces a difficult start to his Red Bull career as the 2025 Formula 1 season starts with a flurry of circuits he never raced at with AlphaTauri/RB. The 23-year-old will not visit a circuit he has already raced at in Formula 1 until the Dutch Grand Prix in round 15 of the 24.
“I feel as good as I can,” Lawson noted after F1 testing in Bahrain, via quotes by Speedweek. “Melbourne is a track I haven’t driven on before, so it will be a difficult weekend to adapt as quickly as possible. But that’s how most of my Formula 1 races have gone so far anyway.
“For me, it’s more about learning the tracks. It’s a new team [and] a new car but the first few races are all tracks that I’ve never driven on before. So, it will be all about getting to know the tracks.”
