Liam Lawson told he now shares a ‘powerful’ driving trait with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris

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Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson might not expect to be in battles with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris this year, but that doesn’t mean he can’t learn from the best drivers on the grid.

Liam Lawson finished 14th in the drivers’ championship last year, recovering well from a very difficult start to the campaign.

His demotion to Racing Bulls initially put him on the back foot, but brilliant drives in Azerbaijan and Sao Paulo earned him his seat in 2026.

Prove me wrong: Liam Lawson can show he deserves another chance at Red Bull

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Lawson will be the lead driver at Red Bull’s sister team this year alongside rookie Arvid Lindblad, and was the first person to drive the VCARB 03 when he took to the track in Imola.

The Racing Bulls’ car concept has caught the attention of fans, but many expect the 2026 regulation changes to put far more emphasis on how well drivers can adapt to the new rules.

Now, the New Zealander has been told by driving coach Martin Villari why his style on track is so similar to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, and why that might not always be a good thing.

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

Liam Lawson has ‘powerful’ wet-weather driving style like Max Verstappen

Villari was talking on The Red Flags podcast about Verstappen being a short corner specialist as someone who tries to take corners in a V-shape as opposed to lengthening how long he’s off the throttle.

Villari explained: “Most of them, to be honest. Liam does this a lot, Oscar and Lando as well do this.

“This is pretty typical, again, you’re optimising for your entry and your exit.

“I don’t know, I’m not a big fan of it anymore. I used to be more of a fan, like I said, in the wet, this is powerful.

“If you watch Max turn one last year in Melbourne, first race, first corner, first lap, he gets all his rotation done super quick at turn one and then just swallows Oscar on the exit, the steering wheel, nice and straight.

“Max got all the rotation done very quickly at turn two and then just again with the steering wheel nice and straight and just went around Oscar on the wet line.

“Like I said, I like this for the wet.”

READ MORE: All to know about Racing Bulls from team principal to Red Bull affiliation

How Liam Lawson’s best drive of the 2025 Formula 1 season would have made Max Verstappen proud

Although Lawson scored his biggest haul of points in Baku, claiming P5 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris, that might not have been his best performance.

The 23-year-old came home in seventh at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, leading teammate Isack Hadjar over the line by two-tenths of a second.

Fourteenth place, Fernando Alonso was only three seconds behind him, and Lawson earned a new nickname thanks to his defensive driving.

Lawson pitted on lap 19 and then completed a 52-lap stint to secure six points for Racing Bulls.

It showed a level of adaptability and grit that Verstappen would be proud of, having fought a championship battle with an inferior car for most of the year.

Helmut Marko still found a way to criticise Lawson, but it gave Racing Bulls confidence in him that he was the man for the job in 2026.

Lawson could only protect that position due to his driving style, even if Hadjar drove into him in the final stages as he looked to make up one more position.

His two-race spell at Red Bull will make top teams wary about giving him another chance in a race-winning car, but his improvement at the end of 2025 highlights how much more there is to come from Lawson.