Lawson praises Permane’s steady hand at Racing Bulls helm

Liam Lawson has praised Racing Bulls’ new team principal Alan Permane for ensuring a smooth transition of leadership following Laurent Mekies’ promotion to Red Bull.

The New Zealander believes the stability provided by Permane is vital to the team’s recent strong performances.

The Red Bull family underwent a dramatic shakeup last month when long-time Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner was fired, prompting Laurent Mekies to step up from Racing Bulls to take the helm at the senior team.

This opened the door for Permane, previously the racing director at Racing Bulls, to assume the role of team principal for the first time in his extensive Formula 1 career. Despite the potential for disruption, the F1 veteran’s approach has kept the team on track, a point clearly emphasized by Lawson.

“A team needs stability, and anytime that there isn't stability it's a very hard working environment to be in,” the Kiwi told RACER.

“It's hard for the drivers to work with their side of the garage, it's a lot of people, a lot of moving parts in a Formula 1 team, so to have everybody working collectively is just very important.

“I think that was probably the target for Alan coming into Laurent's position, and something he's achieved very well [at Spa-Francorchamps and the Hungaroring], and obviously looks to probably keep carrying on now.”

Building on a Strong Foundation

Permane’s promotion was no leap into the unknown. Having joined Racing Bulls as racing director at the start of 2024, following a long tenure at Enstone (most recently as Alpine’s sporting director), Permane brought a wealth of technical expertise and familiarity with the team’s operations.

Lawson highlighted the similarities between Permane and Mekies, noting their shared engineering backgrounds and close collaboration as key to the smooth leadership transition.“

Because of the position that they've both been in – Alan's position sort of working with Laurent in the last year in sort of a chief position on the engineering side, and they both have engineering backgrounds, they're both technically very advanced,” Lawson said.

“And I think honestly, with Alan working alongside Laurent, he's seen exactly how he works, and to be honest not really a lot has changed. I think Alan's approach is just carrying on what Laurent had been doing anyway.”

This continuity has been vital for Racing Bulls, which has shown flashes of outperforming its senior Red Bull team this season.

Looking Ahead with Confidence

The results under Permane’s early tenure speak for themselves. The team’s strong showings at Spa-Francorchamps and the Hungaroring, where Lawson and teammate Isack Hadjar were competitive, demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach.

Lawson, who faced his own challenges earlier in 2025 after a brief and difficult stint at Red Bull Racing, expressed optimism about the team’s trajectory.

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“It’s been working very, very well and so aside from that it's just seeing less of Laurent, seeing him wearing different kit. That’s really the only major difference right now.”

As Racing Bulls prepares for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, marking the resumption of the 2025 season, Lawson’s confidence in Permane’s leadership signals a team poised to build on its recent successes.

With a stable foundation and a focus on continuity, the Faenza-based squad is well-positioned to challenge for top midfield honors, giving Lawson and his teammate a platform to shine in the intense run to the season’s end.

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