Liam Lawson thinks he’s fixed the biggest problem Helmut Marko had with him in 2025

Follow us on Google Discover

Liam Lawson had an up-and-down season in 2025 to say the least, as he was demoted from Red Bull back to Racing Bulls and also had to fight for his future in F1 throughout.

The 23-year-old started the 2025 season by realising his dream of driving for Red Bull, as he secured a promotion from Racing Bulls to replace Sergio Perez last December. Yet his dream only lasted two rounds after Red Bull quickly grew frustrated with Lawson’s lack of progress.

Lawson struggled to adapt to the RB21 while Red Bull strived to improve their package after kicking off the campaign with a very lively rear end. The Kiwi also started the season at two tracks he had no F1 experience at, but Red Bull could only see the problems with his results.

Yuki Tsunoda stepped up from Racing Bulls in March to trade places with Lawson, who then got his season going back with the Faenza outfit. Lawson finished 2025 with 38 points from seven top-10 finishes over his 22 races for Racing Bulls, including a career-high P5 in Baku.

How would you rate Liam Lawson’s 2025 season out of 10?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Liam Lawson admits he ‘struggled’ for consistency after his demotion from Red Bull

Lawson admits he “struggled” to show consistency upon returning to Racing Bulls, for whom he entered five races in 2023 and six in 2024. He particularly found putting together a strong weekend to be challenging until Racing Bulls gave him a front suspension upgrade in Austria.

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

Racing Bulls revised their front suspension geometry at the Red Bull Ring in June, and it gave Lawson a more natural feeling with the VCARB 02. From then on, the Hastings, New Zealand native believes he found the consistency that he was often becoming frustrated by missing.

Lawson told RacingNews365: “It wasn’t necessarily the speed we struggled with at the start. It was the consistency, it was putting together sessions and weekends, and, obviously, that came in Austria after we made a significant change.

“But before that, I think it was already coming. So, I was thinking more, ‘This is extremely frustrating’, but I know it was going to come eventually.”

Liam Lawson fixed Helmut Marko’s biggest issue by finding consistency at Racing Bulls

Lawson had only achieved points during one of his first eight races after returning to Racing Bulls in March, with P8 in May’s Monaco Grand Prix. But Racing Bulls’ new front suspension in Austria sparked a run of four top-10 finishes over the subsequent five rounds for Lawson.

He only failed to score points during that five-round run when the Kiwi retired at Silverstone after being hit by Haas’ Esteban Ocon on Lap 1 of the British Grand Prix. But despite Lawson taking a career-high P5 in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it was his only points across six rounds.

Even after finishing P7 in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to return to the points in November, now-former Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko took issue with Lawson’s “inconsistent” performances for Racing Bulls. He took one further top-10 with P9 in the Qatar Grand Prix.

Ultimately, his results earned him a reprieve for the 2026 F1 season. Lawson secured a new contract from Red Bull to stay at Racing Bulls next year at the start of December, which will see the Kiwi earn the role of team leader beside 18-year-old rookie Arvid Lindblad in 2026.