Liam Lawson now pretends that he ‘never’ raced with Red Bull in Formula 1

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Liam Lawson’s time at Red Bull was brutal, as he struggled at the back and was ousted after just two races. Now, he pretends that it did not even happen.

Christian Horner chose the New Zealander to replace Sergio Perez in 2025, despite Yuki Tsunoda beating him the previous year at Racing Bulls and having far more experience. Red Bull had faith in Lawson, but it was a decision they would regret.

The 24-year-old felt underprepared after some testing mishaps, and he would be thrown straight into the deep end in Melbourne and Shanghai, two tracks he had never raced on. Getting knocked out in Q1 and not scoring points, his time with Red Bull ended after China.

Liam Lawson pretends that his Red Bull move ‘never’ happened

Lawson had the shortest career of any Red Bull driver as Tsunoda got the nod to replace him from his home race at Suzuka. The Kiwi driver returned to Racing Bulls and has since made some improvements, managing to retain his seat for 2026.

Lawson was ‘grateful’ for Red Bull and the experience that they offered him, but it is not one that he remembers too fondly. In fact, he acts as if it did not happen in the first place.

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Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Lawson admitted that he pretends he ‘never’ joined Red Bull, as he had such a short stint with the team.

Asked if he carried the effects of his time with Red Bull throughout 2025, he replied: “I tried not to, but I definitely did, yeah, I tried to just as much as possible.

“I even pretended it never even happened, kind of thing, because I spent two races there and the way it all went down was just so crazy that I just honestly kind of was like, ‘I’m just going to pretend I never even went there’, and pretty much everything else I’ve done was with VCARB in Formula 1.”

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

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Lawson then recalled his toughest moment with the team as he struggled to find any feeling for the car: “I think the China weekend, even like before I was actually out, I remember the hotel I was in was like an hour from the track. It was really far away.

“And some of the drives that I had between the hotel and the track, I was in the car and I was just sitting there, and I was thinking about everything that was going on.

“It must have been probably after qualifying. I had a really bad quali and I was pretty upset just about what was going on, trying to just deliver a result.

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“And then yeah, that sort of four or five day, going back to London being excited to just go back to work, and then basically getting the phone call. I wish I’d known, had a heads-up.”

Asked if he felt the call from Red Bull was coming, he replied: “No. Which is crazy because I remember thinking, there was earlier a couple of rumours around that weekend. There started to be a rumour about, OK, Japanese Grand Prix coming up, Yuki’s Japanese.

“And I honestly remember trusting my team so much. I was like, ‘That’s insane that they’re even like saying that, classic F1 rumours.’ And then I went back, and just, I was like, I couldn’t believe it.”