Liam Lawson’s progression through the upper echelons of motorsport has been almost as rapid as the young Kiwi’s utterly blistering pace on track.

ABOUT

Like many, Liam Lawson’s motorsport journey started in karting, but his talent was quickly evident as the Pukekohe-raised racer won two karting titles in 2014 before debuting in Formula First single seaters in 2015. Two wins, no less than thirteen podiums and a Rookie of the Year trophy later and Lawson moved into F1600 (Formula Ford), and things started to move very quickly. Lawson devasted the F1600 field claiming fourteen of the fifteen victories on offer to become the youngest champion in not just the series' history, but the youngest ever Formula Ford champion in world at the time.

He progressed with similar proficiency in Formula 4 in both Australia and Europe and also a debut season in the European F3 Championship before returning home to contest the Toyota Racing Series in 2019 and with 5 wins across the season secured the Championship with a P2 placing at the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Lawson became a Red Bull junior driver contesting the European Formula 3 Championship and this, along with his undeniable pace, has created some excellent opportunities including driving the Red Bull-sponsored Ferrari DTM car for the AF Corse team alongside F1 driver Alex Albon while also taking part in Formula 2 and testing for Red Bull F1’s sister team AlphaTauri.

The biggest challenge in Lawson's career would come in 2023 when he was called up last-minute to replace an injured Daniel Ricciardo at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix. In incredibly tough weather conditions at one of F1's hardest circuits, the young-Kiwi flew, bringing the car home in 13th, three positions ahead of his AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Lawson would go on to appear in four more Grand Prix, scoring a total of two championship points, and even knocking Max Verstappen out of qualifying in Singapore.

It's only a matter of time until we see Liam Lawson back on the Formula 1 grid full-time.