Liam Lawson faces a big challenge up against Max Verstappen for the 2025 F1 season, having been promoted to the full-time role to replace Sergio Perez.
The 23-year-old has made 11 Grand Prix starts so far in his career while racing for Racing Bulls, between 2023 and 2024 after replacing the Australian Daniel Ricciardo.
After he replaced Ricciardo due to injury for five races in 2023, then went on to replace him permanently at the end of 2024 after Red Bull dismissed him due to performance problems.
| Category | Yuki Tsunoda | Liam Lawson |
| 2024 points | 8 | 4 |
| Grand Prix results | 4 | 2 |
| Grand Prix qualifying | 6 | 0 |
| Grand Prix wins | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix poles | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix podiums | 0 | 0 |
| Best finish | 7th | 9th |
| Retirements | 1 | 0 |
| Retirements (classified finish) | 0 | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix points finishes | 2 | 2 |
| Sprint results | 0 | 3 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 0 | 3 |
| Sprint wins | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint poles | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint podiums | 0 | 0 |
Although Lawson did not outscore the experienced Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko felt he was the right candidate to go up against Verstappen in the same team.
Alex Albon has previously warned about how tough it can be to race against Verstappen, and Lawson is said to have the mental strength to keep up with him. Discussing what will be his biggest challenge in 2025, Lawson outlined one thing that he will find the ‘hardest’ in the opening races when speaking to Red Bull.
Liam Lawson expects a tough first half of the season
During his time as a substitute driver at Racing Bulls, Lawson only ever did the tail end of the European season and the flyaway races at the end of the year.
Now he will race at tracks he has never been to before in his career, including China and Canada, and believes this will be his biggest challenge.
“I’m very excited for the start of the year because there a lot of tracks that I haven’t done that I think I’ll enjoy, like Melbourne, China looks like a cool track, Canada is somewhere I’ve wanted to drive,” said Lawson.
“But I think the start of the year will be the hardest, so going to a bunch of tracks I haven’t done before at the start of the season will be very tough.”
Liam Lawson faces ‘immense’ pressure at Red Bull
Going up against Verstappen in the same team is one thing, but Lawson is under a lot of pressure to perform at Red Bull as they attempt to win back their Constructors’ crown.
Christian Klien is hopeful Red Bull will not make the same mistake as Alex Albon and put too much pressure on Lawson in the early stages of the season.
Perez’s performances arguably cost them the Constructors’ title last year, having only scored a total of 152 points and finished eighth in the standings.
Verstappen is excited to be working with Lawson in 2025, with the Milton Keynes outfit is optimistic that their partnership will enable them to beat title favourites McLaren.
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