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Liam Lawson's rise to Formula 1 - racing with Giltrap Group

Liam Lawson is making his full-time Formula 1 debut this weekend with the Giltrap Group logo worn proudly on his helmet, where it has been for nearly a decade during his meteoric rise to the pinnacle of motorsport.

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 devastated 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.

When it was time for the young Kiwi to go international, Giltrap Group was there.

Our support of Lawson goes back to 2017 when he jumped across the pond to race in Australian Formula 4, because at the age of just 15, Liam had outgrown everything available to him in New Zealand but wasn’t old enough to meet the Toyota Racing Series requirement of 16 years of age.

After an incredibly strong season in Australian F4, it was time to make the move to European F4, followed by 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, Liam 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, created 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.

Now in 2024, after years in the wings, it is time for Liam to claim his spotlight as a full-time Formula 1 driver, but he is under no illusion that anything is guaranteed in this sport.

"It’s just been a rollercoaster because obviously me getting a seat means somebody doesn’t get a seat and that is changing every weekend. One weekend, someone has a good result, the next weekend, someone doesn’t."

“I haven’t driven much this year so every test I’ve had, although they said it’s not a performance evaluation,

it’s just a test – you still know they are judging you."

Liam will hit the track for the first time as a full-time Formula 1 driver on Saturday, October 19, 6:30am for Free Practice 1.