Lawson unshaken by Red Bull demotion: ‘Confidence intact'

Despite the challenges and setbacks that have marked his campaign year-to-date, Liam Lawson remains steadfast, insisting that his brief and turbulent stint with Red Bull Racing and subsequent demotion to Racing Bulls has not dented his confidence.

Lawson, who replaced Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull’s senior outfit for the 2025 F1 season was relegated back to RB after his opening two races ended with two Q1 exits, no points and a significant pace deficit to Verstappen.

With little time and mileage preventing him from showcasing his potential, it was a tough initiation for the Kiwi with an RB21 machine that even Verstappen has struggled to master.

Nevertheless, Lawson has made it clear that the results haven’t shaken his belief in his own abilities.

“Honestly, confidence-wise, nothing really changed from the start of the year,” Lawson explained ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, his third race with RB.

“I didn’t spend anywhere near enough time for me to reflect on those two races and go, ‘oh my god, I’ve really struggled in this car, I’ve lost my ability’.

“It wasn’t really like that. I did two races that were two very messy weekends from a lot of factors, but I think confidence-wise that didn’t really change.

Adapting to a New Environment

Since returning to Racing Bulls, after switching seats with Yuki Tsunoda, Lawson’s performances have yet to yield significant results.

He finished 17th in Japan and 16th in Bahrain after a troubled run, and was on each occasion outpaced by rookie Isack Hadjar in qualifying.

However, Lawson attributes his results more to ongoing adaptation to Racing Bulls’ VCARB 02 than psychological fallout from his demotion.

“It’s just been about getting used to a new car again, and the team, and trying to do all that as quickly as possible,” he said.

“I think that’s really been where the focus is at. Confidence-wise I feel, honestly, as I always have.”

Tyres, Set-up, and Tricky Conditions

The 23-year-old further highlighted how varying weather conditions and tyre behavior have added to the difficulty of dialing in performance. Both his recent races took place in climates at opposite ends of the spectrum, compounding the learning curve.

“To be honest, it feels like a little bit of a tricky year with tyres, with set-up,” he said. “I think warm-up, we’ve had very different conditions.

“We went from Japan being very cold to Bahrain being very hot and when you’re trying to build the tyre up in the perfect way, that’s a completely unique thing to work on, and you can’t really simulate that in a simulator.”

“You’re faced with a lot more real-life conditions that you’re not going to simulate, and I think this year that stuff that we maybe don’t simulate has been more of a challenge than in past years.

“The car set-up itself, we can simulate that and I think we have that in a pretty good place, but it’s really that other stuff that you can’t actually really work on that can be quite difficult.”

With the year still young, Lawson knows consistency and adaptation are key if he hopes to earn a second shot at the sport’s top table—this time, on his own terms.

Read also: Lawson happy to just be racing after ‘crazy couple of weeks’

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