Red Bull really impressed with how Liam Lawson has dealt with 22-pole driver on F1 return

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Liam Lawson is halfway through a Formula 1 audition that will ultimately determine which team he races for in 2025.

When RB decided to drop Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix, Liam Lawson was handed his second opportunity to impress on the grid after a stellar five-race cameo last year.

The 22-year-old Kiwi was unlucky not to earn a full-time race seat after outqualifying Max Verstappen at one point last year and comfortably matching teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Red Bull have given Lawson an additional race to showcase his talents this year and he hasn’t taken long to get up to speed.

He scored points on his return to the grid in Austin and has gone toe-to-toe with some of the sport’s best drivers.

Journalist Ben Hunt has shared on the Inside The Piranha Club Podcat one battle in particular that Red Bull have enjoyed.

Sergio Perez and Lawson clashed in Mexico City, with the RB driver coming out on top despite having to pit twice after contact with Franco Colapinto later in the race.

Lawson apologized to Perez but set his marker out early in the Red Bull hierarchy by showing he wasn’t going to be a pushover, even if he neatly moved out of the way of Max Verstappen during his imperious drive in Sao Paulo.

Red Bull, however, were left very impressed by Lawson’s battle with Fernando Alonso during the Sprint Race in Austin.

Even when Alonso – who has 22 pole positions to his name – vowed he would get his own back on Lawson, the 22-year-old came out on top as Aston Martin continued to struggle in the midfield.

Red Bull liked Liam Lawson’s response to Fernando Alonso battle on return to F1

Hunt was giving his opinion on how the Red Bull seat situation could play out and said: “This is how I see it playing out and I think this is how it’s going to work, in my opinion only.

“Lawson goes to Red Bull and the reason I say that is because he’s kept it on track. He had a really good Brazilian Grand Prix, very much under the radar but no mistakes.

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“He had one moment in Mexico where he clashed with Perez and I think that had that been any other team then Red Bull said well done, congratulations on getting your elbows out.

“I think they really liked his rebuttal with Alonso in Austin when Alonso was sort of really digging him out.

“He actually stood up to Alonso and I think I liked that. He’s doing all the right things, he’s kind of delivering, he’s fairly low maintenance.”

Max Verstappen’s camp already rooting for Liam Lawson

Lawson has impressed during his first three races and his calm drive in treacherous conditions in Sao Paulo was arguably his most impressive.

He kept Lewis Hamilton and Perez at bay during the Grand Prix to add two more points to his tally.

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The fact that Perez spun early in the race and couldn’t recover to the points when Verstappen cleared the entire field from P17 to comfortably win the race shows how much of a gap there is between the two teammates.

Verstappen’s camp have been impressed by Lawson and see him as a viable candidate to partner the Dutchman going forward.

If he can continue to put his stamp on battles with some of the sport’s biggest names, then it won’t be long before he’s driving for a top team.