Liam Lawson has taken in his first test in a Red Bull as a Red Bull Racing driver, doing so earlier this month at Jerez as he gears up to partner Max Verstappen this season.

While the former Red Bull reserve and VCARB driver has driven Red Bull models in the past, this test at the Spanish circuit marked the first time he has driven in Red Bull colours after the announcement he would be promoted to the ‘senior’ team.

Liam Lawson takes in first Red Bull test in F1 2025 season

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper

The team confirmed the New Zealander took in a day of running in their all-conquering 2023 machine, the RB19, at Jerez, alongside working with his new team at Milton Keynes ahead of the new season.

Lawson was promoted to take the place of Sergio Perez in 2025, having taken in two short stints with Red Bull’s sister team in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

The 23-year-old was in attendance at London’s O2 Arena to unveil the livery of Red Bull’s 2025 car, the RB21, and spoke of how his pre-season preparations have unfolded so far as he prepares for the challenge of partnering a four-time World Champion in Verstappen.

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When asked if there was anything he had worked on over the winter in particular, or if there was anything about Formula 1 he would have not known about without his previous stints in the spotlight, he replied to media including PlanetF1.com: “It’s just experience. You learn things, obviously, as you go on, as you do more races, but there’s nothing really in particular that stood out – it’s just time in the seat.

“A lot of it’s dealing with the outside sort of pressure. Obviously, we’re used to that with Red Bull but, obviously, coming into this season, there’s going to be another element of that with coming into the main team.

“But no, I don’t think there’s anything in particular that has been worked on. It’s more just been a combination of things, obviously, training to be physically ready, spending a lot more time with the team, coming over nice and early to to get that sort of prep done at the factory.

“Obviously a new crew for me on our side of the garage, so just getting used to working with new people and trying to make those relationships as comfortable as possible going into the start.”

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