Lawson projected to Red Bull Racing: Was this the decisive reason?
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It seems like everything points towards Liam Lawson becoming Max Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull Racing next season. Just after 11 F1 Grands Prix, the driver from New Zealand would be promoted to the senior team after competing for VCARB. The added pressure does not change the New Zealanders approach to racing, he explained to GPblog among others in Abu Dhabi.
Lawson not bothered by the spotlight
During the final events of the year, the spotlight was on Lawson, but it did not bother the young driver. "Honestly, I go about a race how I've always done and it's not something I'm not trying to do a certain thing or act in a certain way to show them anything. I'm just trying to do the best job I can in the car," he began at the final event of the 2024 season.
Indeed, if there is a team where there's pressure, that would be Red Bull. "Mentally, it's how I’ve always been. It's up to them to decide whether they like that or don't like that. Obviously, if there's something I’m doing that can be improved, they will tell me and I’ll work on that. But in terms of my sort of attitude towards a race or a race weekend, it's how I've always been," Lawson continued.
Lawson grew up with constant pressure with Red Bull
Lawson explains that having been part of the Red Bull junior team for so long, he has been prepared for the current environment where he has to deliver week in, week out. "I think in this environment, I've been in this junior team for a long time. This is the end of my sixth year with Red Bull, and that pressure comes when I was 16 years old, and I'd never felt pressure like that. I never knew that it could be like that, to be honest, going into a racing season."
Therefore, he credits this skill to the team. "I think that's one of the benefits of being with Red Bull for so long is in a way it builds you for Formula One. To step into Formula One without that experience of having that pressure on you from from a young age I think would be really, really tough, so I'm grateful to have had that for so many years," Lawson concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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