Who is Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Age, nationality, stats and more

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Liam Lawson is one of the most prodigious junior talents in the Formula 1 paddock, so F1 Oversteer looks into everything you need to know about the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver.

Success has often come his way since Lawson decided to pursue a career in motorsport as a kid. He has won titles galore over various go-karting levels and single-seater categories. The chance for Lawson to join the Red Bull young driver programme also came in February 2019.

Red Bull snapped Lawson up at 17 years old after he dominated the Toyota Racing Series. He took five wins in 15 races to beat Marcus Armstrong, who was in the Ferrari Driver Academy, for the title. Red Bull also named Lawson as their F1 reserve driver for the first time in 2022.

His association with Red Bull also saw Lawson get his Formula 1 debut racing for their sister team, whilst operating as AlphaTauri, at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix. The Kiwi even returned to race for Visa Cash App RB in 2024, when Lawson’s efforts led to his promotion to Red Bull.

After Sergio Perez had a disastrous season next to Max Verstappen in 2024 and cost Red Bull the defence of their constructors’ title, Lawson graduated from their junior team to the main operation – even though he had entered just 11 Grand Prix in his Formula 1 career yet. Following two races with the team in which he scored zero points, Lawson was demoted back to Racing Bulls in favour of Yuki Tsunoda.

Liam Lawson joined the Red Bull driver academy in 2019

Lawson first got in a go-kart at six years old but as he did not come from a wealthy family, he started racing at seven without the best gear or engines. But the equipment taught Lawson how to carry more speed through corners and brake as late as possible to make up lap time.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Support by sponsors saw Lawson race with more competitive machinery but the young New Zealand driver development programme, the SpeedSport Scholarship, was his greatest aid. His dad, Jared, also taught Lawson how to drive a manual car in his sister’s VW Polo aged 12.

Jared was Lawson’s sole driver coach as a kid but New Zealand motor racing icon Ken Smith also helped later on in his development. Smith’s advice even helped Lawson win his first title in single-seaters with the New Zealand F1600 series in 2016/17 with 14 wins in just 15 races.

Winning the Formula Ford championship also presented Lawson with the chance to move to race in Europe. He quit school after Year 11 and immediately fought for the ADAC Formula 4 Championship title in 2018. Lawson finished second to champion Lirim Zendeli, who finished ahead by 100 points.

Liam Lawson won his first go-karting title in 2012 and single-seater title in 2016/17

Lawson was not unfamiliar with success having won several karting championships. He first entered a championship in 2011 and took his first title in 2012 in the Cadet class of the CIK Trophy of New Zealand Challenge Cup. He further won two 100cc Junior titles during 2014.

Dominating the Toyota Racing Series in 2019 then saw Lawson sign his first multi-year driver contract with Red Bull on his 17th birthday. It also helped him move into Formula 3 with MP Motorsport, before Lawson joined Hitech in 2020 and then graduated to Formula 2 in 2021.

Lawson even relished the chance to split his season between F2 and the German touring car championship, DTM, in 2021. He drove a Red Bull-branded Ferrari and took the title fight to Maximilian Gotz but missed out by only three points after contact with Kelvin van der Linde.

A move to Carlin for the 2022 Formula 2 season also saw Lawson fight Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire for the title. He ultimately finished third before joining the Japanese Super Formula in 2023, in which Lawson finished second for the title by only eight points, as well.

The 2023 season was also huge for Lawson as Daniel Ricciardo breaking a bone in his hand in FP2 for the Dutch GP led to the Kiwi’s Formula 1 debut racing for AlphaTauri. Lawson also raced in the 2023 Italian GP, Singapore GP, Japanese GP and Qatar GP for the Faenza outfit.

Lawson even scored his first points in Formula 1 with P9 in the 2023 Singapore GP and was the lead Red Bull driver in qualifying. The Kiwi talent took P10 to also dump Verstappen out in P11, while Perez only managed P13 and Yuki Tsunoda in the other AlphaTauri secured P15.

Yet his results were still not enough to convince Red Bull to gift Lawson a full-time race seat as AlphaTauri became Visa Cash App RB from 2024. Instead, he returned to a reserve driver role for both teams, which led to Lawson’s return to the Formula 1 grid in September 2024.

After a frustrating few months sat on the sidelines, Red Bull opted to put Lawson in the RB that Ricciardo had driven all season. The team from Milton Keynes were not satisfied with the Australian’s results beside Tsunoda, so handed Lawson a chance to earn the seat for 2025.

Ultimately, that decision paid off as Lawson would land a promotion when Red Bull sacked Perez in December 2024, with the Mexican’s contract for the 2025 term terminated having cost them the constructors’ title. Lawson scored points in two of his six races at RB in 2024.

Lawson made his debut with Red Bull Racing at the 2025 Australian GP, but the New Zealander suffered a terrible start to his campaign by crashing out in the rainy conditions. Things did not improve in China, when Lawson finished outside of the points in the Sprint race and could only manage as high as P15 on the road in the Grand Prix.

Following the two races in which Lawson scored zero points and started from the pit lane twice, Red Bull decided to swap him with Tsunoda from the Japanese GP.

But who really is Lawson and what has been said about the latest Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver? F1 Oversteer has taken a look into everything that you need to know about Lawson…

Who is Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Liam Lawson?

Liam Lawson is a racing driver currently competing in Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing. He is also a graduate of the Red Bull Junior Team, which led to Lawson’s F1 debut for the brand’s sister team whilst operating as AlphaTauri and also serving as a reserve driver for Red Bull.

How old is Liam Lawson? What is the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver’s age?

At the time of writing, Liam Lawson is 24 years old. He was born on February 11 in 2002 and celebrated his 17th birthday in 2019 by joining the Red Bull driver development programme.

Where was Liam Lawson born?

Liam Lawson was born in Hastings, an inland city of New Zealand in Hawke’s Bay. But he was raised in Pukekohe, a self-contained country town with a population of 27,000 and is often mistaken as a suburb of Auckland. It is famed for motorsport, horse racing and its beaches.

Meet Liam Lawson’s mum, Kristy, and dad, Jared

Liam Lawson comes from a big and close-knit family in New Zealand as one of Kristy Lawson and Jared Lawson’s five children. He is also the middle child between Jessica (nine years his elder), Holly (two years older), Marcos (two years younger) and Leah (three years younger).

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Visa Cash App RB F1 Team from team principal to Red Bull relationship

His family are based in Pukekohe, South Auckland and mainly only see Lawson in the festive period. Holly and Jess were Irish dance national champions in their youth. Mum Kristy took Jess to her dance lessons and dad Jared, a manager of a freight company, took Liam karting.

It was also through his dad that Lawson developed his passion for motorsport as a kid. Liam and Jared watched Formula 1 and the Australian Supercars Championship together before a first taste of racing go-karts followed as soon as Liam was old enough to understand racing.

How tall is Liam Lawson? What is his height in feet?

Measuring in at 1.74 metres tall, Liam Lawson stands at a height of 5 ft 8 in.

How good is Liam Lawson? What’s been said about him?

Liam Lawson has proven that he can adapt to different categories and levels throughout his budding racing career. He has tasted success on debut in various categories and adapted rapidly to racing in Formula 1 in very tricky mixed weather conditions at the 2023 Dutch GP.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko also described Lawson as an ‘exceptional talent’ in March 2024 while serving a reserve role with Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB. He watched Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo get race seats as RB changed their name from AlphaTauri.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also praised Lawson over how he adapted to tough conditions on his F1 debut at the 2023 Dutch GP. He said: “The poor guy getting dropped in a car he’s never driven, wet, dry conditions, everything being thrown at him, I actually think he did pretty well.”

Eliminating Max Verstappen during qualifying for the 2023 Singapore GP and then scoring points at Marina Bay also saw Jolyon Palmer praise Lawson. The former Renault F1 driver found the Kiwi’s performance ‘remarkable’ given the physical nature of the Singapore GP.

Who is Liam Lawson’s girlfriend, Hannah St John?

Liam Lawson has been dating his girlfriend, Hannah St John, since October 2022. California native St John was born on February 12, 2001 and is a student who is currently majoring in biological and biomedical sciences at Arizona State University to be a Physician Assistant.

What is Liam Lawson’s net worth?

Liam Lawson has a modest net worth of around $1.5m (£1.3m) as he starts his career in F1. Yet Lawson also admitted in a video for Hitech in June 2021: “Liam Lawson net worth? That would be a big fat zero. Literally, I haven’t earned any money in my whole career.”

Liam Lawson’s Formula 1 career stats

Liam Lawson’s association with Red Bull delivered the Kiwi his Formula 1 breakthrough as a stand-in for Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri during the 2023 season. His connection with the team from Milton Keynes also brought about his arrival as a fully-fledged F1 driver in 2024.

After a difficult start with Red Bull in 2025, Lawson looked much more at home in the Racing Bulls car during the remainder of the season, although finished P14 in the standings.