Liam Lawson’s name is on everyone’s lips in the Formula 1 world after the announcement that he’d be replacing the outgoing Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing. 

That means everyone is running to get to know more about the young New Zealander — and he’s shared a very controversial choice as his pick for best F1 race!

Liam Lawson chooses controversial favorite Grand Prix

Sergio Perez has announced that he’s stepped back from full-time racing with Red Bull ahead of the Formula 1 2025 season, and that has left space for Liam Lawson to earn an early promotion from the sister team.

With that promotion has come an influx of attention for the 22-year-old New Zealander, and a whole slew of interviews.

In one such conversation with ESPN UK, Lawson was quizzed on his “bests” — what he considers to be the best movie, the best sweets, and so much more.

Many of the answers were a little silly but nevertheless enlightening. Lawson loves the movie Cars, he’s a fan of Suits, and he loves a burger from In-and-Out in America.

Ask him his favorite F1 race, though, and you may be in for a surprise.

“Wow, that’s really tough,” Lawson said, before settling on his answer.

“2021 Abu Dhabi. That’s so controversial, but…”

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Controversial, yes — but it may be a great way for Lawson to endear himself to his new teammate Max Verstappen. Abu Dhabi ’21 is, after all, the race that earned Verstappen his first title.

In a longer interview with ESPN UK filmed at the same time, Lawson was asked to reflect on the past few months. Just six months ago, after all, he didn’t have a race seat. Now, heading into 2025, he’s going to be racing in a top-tier team in F1.

“I think I knew the opportunity that was coming, and I knew that it was looking like it was going to happen towards the end of this year,” Lawson said of his shot with Red Bull.

“I also knew that coming in, it was almost an audition for the Red Bull seat, just because obviously the team at that point were losing the Constructors’ [Championship], and they were looking to make a change.

“It wasn’t specifically, ‘You do this drive, and you get a Red Bull seat.’

“It’s just… any time you’re in the sister team, you know that you’re auditioning for a Red Bull seat in the future, so I knew coming in that’s what was happening.

“But to be honest, I wasn’t expecting it towards the end of the year. That was more of a recent thing.”

Recent or not, it’s now the reality for Liam Lawson as he heads into his first full-time Formula 1 season.

Read next: Revealed: The truth behind Lawson’s meeting with Horner at the Mexico GP