Liam Lawson was ‘the only driver’ to receive one penalty during the 2025 F1 season

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Liam Lawson has accumulated six penalty points over the last year, which ranks him joint-third on the current grid. Only Haas’ Oliver Bearman (10) and dropped Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda (eight) have more.

Lawson may be halfway to a race ban, but he doesn’t need to be overly concerned. One of his points will expire early in the 2026 season (mid-April).

But Lawson admits he’s been involved in needless incidents at times, a habit he will have to cut out if he wants to stay on the Formula 1 grid long-term.

Lawson’s reputation as an aggressive racer dates back to the end of the 2024 season, when he riled up veteran drivers like Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez in successive weekends. For the Kiwi, it’s about retaining that edge while ensuring he’s not compromising his own chances.

Liam Lawson was the only driver penalised for ‘erratic’ racing

Speaking to sport.de, former F1 driver Christian Danner commended Lawson’s ‘excellent’ speed in 2025. He reached Q3 six times during the second half of the season.

However, Danner says that the Racing Bulls driver still has ‘some catching up to do’ when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing. Lawson received a five-second penalty at the Abu Dhabi GP for driving erratically in his battle with Bearman.

Do any of these drivers need to change their ways in 2026?

Driving offences only

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‘Driving erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers’ is a specific offence in the regulations. While Oscar Piastri fell foul of the rule behind the safety car at Silverstone, Lawson was the only driver penalised under article 33.4 in normal racing conditions.

“His speed was excellent; at times he was on par with Hadjar, sometimes even better,” Danner said. “He still needs to work on a few things.

“He’s the only driver this year to receive a penalty for erratic driving. You can drive hard, but you can’t always pretend the others aren’t keeping up. Lawson has some catching up to do there.”

Yuki Tsunoda was lucky to stay in F1 for five years, says Christian Danner

Another ex-F1 driver, Christijan Albers recently said that Lawson ‘always’ damages the car and questioned why he kept his Racing Bulls seat over Yuki Tsunoda.

Red Bull could have moved Tsunoda back to the sister team, but the Japanese driver has had to accept a reserve role instead.

But Danner believes the decision was justified because Tsunoda was ‘not good enough’ for F1. If it were up to him, the 2021 debutant would have lost his seat ‘much earlier’.

“He’s simply not good enough. This was his fifth year in Formula 1, but he always drives the same way, he always makes the same mistakes.

“Tsunoda didn’t impress me at all in Formula 1; I would have dropped him much earlier, for example.”

Tsunoda says he might be more than a reserve next year, suggesting that Red Bull are ready to turn to him if Lawson or rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad struggle.