Christian Danner tells Racing Bulls that Liam Lawson isn’t a standout driver like Isack Hadjar

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Racing Bulls may lose out in the F1 midfield battle this year as they rely on Liam Lawson rather than Isack Hadjar, Christian Danner says. The Faenza squad can target fifth place in the standings on the back of an encouraging winter.

There were some indications that Racing Bulls may be the best of the rest behind the top four teams, though Haas and Alpine appear to be vying for that mantle too. They finished sixth last year with 89 points.

Hadjar was responsible for 51 of those but has now been promoted to Red Bull, with 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad replacing him. Given Lindblad’s rookie status, Lawson is expected to be the lead driver at Racing Bulls.

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Racing Bulls told that Liam Lawson can’t fill Isack Hadjar void

Hadjar beat Lawson 16-6 in the qualifying head-to-head last year, one of the most dominant intra-team victories on the grid. Only Max Verstappen (22 times), George Russell (20) and Charles Leclerc (19) outpaced their teammates more often.

While they were closer in the races, Hadjar still finished ahead of Lawson in 11 of the 17 Grands Prix where both drivers were classified. Danner, an ex-F1 driver and now a pundit on German television, explained that fine margins would decide the midfield battle.

While Lawson is a ‘reasonable’ driver, Danner doesn’t see him as a standout talent like Hadjar. Combine that with Lindblad’s inexperience, and the Racing Bulls line-up may not be able to extract the car’s full potential.

What do you expect from Liam Lawson in the 2026 F1 season?

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“Driver-wise, they don’t have the same highlight in the car as they did in 2025 with Isack Hadjar,” he told sport.de. “We’ll see how well Arvid Lindblad can handle it; he didn’t get much track time in testing.

“Liam Lawson, at least, is a reasonable candidate. But in this tight midfield, it will depend heavily on the drivers to make that small difference.”

One points stat proves Christian Danner is right about Liam Lawson

Danner’s comments reflect the ongoing question marks around Lawson in Formula 1. It came down to the New Zealander and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda for the final spot on the grid next to Lindblad, and he deservedly prevailed.

But it feels as if Lawson has spent the first 35 races of his career in one extended audition. He now needs to prove that he’s more than a ‘reasonable’ talent.

Doubts exist inside the team as well. For instance, Alan Permane says Lawson needs to make himself undroppable this year, having shown a lack of consistency in 2025.

Lawson didn’t manage a three-race scoring streak last year, so that should be one of his early 2026 targets. Based on the performance of the VCARB03 in testing, this is achievable between Australia and Japan.