Lawson pinpoints crucial moment on calendar: 'Only then will we know'

Many Formula 1 drivers and the teams have already indicated that it will be an exciting season. This is mainly because the 2024 season ended so closely in terms of championship standings. Lawson weighs in on what he thinks the season will bring. 

Lawson on the 2025 season with Red Bull

New regulations are set to start at the beginning of the 2026 season, and now, the paddock mostly believes the current convergence can lead to exciting battles. Lawson is no different "These guys obviously said it well with this generation of car. Also at the end of, like, a regulation period, everybody's really maximising where the car's at and they've obviously learned a lot over the last couple of years. It's going to be tight. It was very, very tight last year, especially towards the end, so I would expect it to be very, very close. Obviously we'll find out. We probably won't truly find out until qualifying in Melbourne."

Lawson continued, "Obviously, everyone's got new cars, but not a huge amount has changed, so we can probably expect the performance, especially of McLaren, last year to probably start like that this year. So, of course, we see it. We're looking at everything. We're obviously just as focused on ourselves."

"For me, I'm obviously very focused on adapting. It's a lot of different things in the way that you actually drive this car, to be honest, that I'm learning."

He concluded, "So yes, we'll obviously be looking at everybody else, but at the same time, I've never been here when it's been this cold. I don't think anybody's been here when it's been this cold, so when we come here to race, I think it'll be also probably very different conditions."

This article was written in collaboration with Esteban den Toom. 

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