Liam Lawson’s fight to live in F1 is not over: “Three good races are not enough”

“He is not being demoted – he is moving forward Racing bullsWhich is a very competitive car, much easier than RB 21, “Helmut Marco told Motorsport.com in the early spring, Red Bull decided to replace Liam Lawson. Yuki Sunoda In your main squad. Marco was adamant that it was not the end of the road for the New Josender.

He said, “There was a change after a beginning that I would say that it was unfortunate,” he said, cite the pre-seasons in Bahrain and the issues of Lawson during his struggles in the early race. “The third practice session in Australia was canceled, and this is the place where problems started. This naturally affected Liam’s confidence.

“It was a spiral at a bottom that we needed to break in our career to give Lawson a future.”

Last year was incidental for Lawson: the moment he replaced Daniel Reciardo In the second team of Red Bull, he became a leading candidate to succeed quickly Sergio Perez – A step that was less than a dozen Grand Prix weekend, despite Lawson’s minor F1 records at that time in winter.

But a difficult start for 2025 indicated that Marco refused to call the “Demotion”. Within weeks, Lawson’s career had moved in a very different direction, at the point where many people questioned whether he would also finish the year with racing bulls. Lumping of Red Bull’s Rising Star Arvid LindbladIn his cheating F2 season, speculation that he could have been tracked faster in F1 before it was out of the year. Lawson’s seat looked like the most obvious goal, especially when he quickly failed to score points and struggled to keep pace with his new team partner Isac Hadzar,

In this interview, Marco confirmed that Tsunoda would definitely complete the season in the Red Bull. And Hudar – at least Gabriel Bortoleo Started scoring points for Save – Widely seen as the best of 2025 crooks category.

But Lawson has since stabilized its season with a strong run run in summer. He may have completely changed things, but he has gained confidence – even if he has never accepted to lose it.

Alan Penic, principal of the racing bulls team at Hungary’s GP weekend, said, “He has done a great job, honestly,” “Two races in the Red Bull, of course, was very difficult for him. He would not thank me for saying this, but he was definitely a little less.

“He did not have a spring in his step, and what we have done there, we can help him to jump directly into his car without testing it, of course, not easy. He is against ISCAC that is outstanding this year. The first race for him was Japan and Isac was flying exactly. So, it is a difficult introduction to him.”

In his first five races with racing bulls, Lawson failed to reach Q3 or score points, while Hudzar made Q3 three times and scored Japan And Saudi ArabiaThe time was required to adapt by Lawson, but the doubt about their future only increased. Importantly, however, he responded in time with better performance than Monaco. He was still eligible behind the Hadzar, but was quite close on the grid to enable the team to execute a strategy, which gave strong points for both drivers – Lawson played an important role.

The post -suspension update also helped Lawson feel more comfortable, and he scored in Austria, Belgium and Hungary. In Budapest, he ended with Verustapain even after executing a one-stop strategy with a 40-lapp second stent.

“We have made some changes,” Penic explained. “They have worked hard. He and his engineering team really worked hard. We had some success in Austria. We had a new front suspension for them, which they developed through the simulator, and they really liked it, actually excited about it, and it worked there.

“We saw again in the spa, he is performing. You could see after that race … Monaco was a decent race for him, but Austria, a spring was back in his step.”

Lawson himself can dispute the approach to the “downbet” of permanent, saying that his confidence was never abandoned.

After the Hungarian GP, he said, “Look, everyone is going to express his opinion and is going to decide when he sees someone,” he said after the Hungarian GP. “So that’s fine, but I know how I feel.”

Nevertheless, his body language has clearly shifted in the red bull overalls compared to the pressed figure that we saw earlier this year.

“To be honest, nothing has changed, in addition to some small things in the car, and small things for me that helped me to make me comfortable in the car,” he insisted. “And I think it’s really since Austria that I have felt that comfortable in the car, but the speed has always been since the beginning of the season, because we swung.

“We had a lot of small things through that first part of the year, and continuity was not there, and now it is, but it is also very difficult to keep, so we need to try to keep it and focus.”

Lawson’s case has also been strengthened by Tsunoda’s struggles since Swap. The Japanese driver is finished in the top 10 only twice, pulling back to the dry monaco with a point. Meanwhile, Lawson has an edge in qualifying, which makes Q3 four times compared to Tsunoda’s two, and more often more than not to start further – despite Tsunoda having a sharp car on paper.

This suggests that Lawson’s early struggles were not purely related to the driver. But what does this mean for his future?

“It’s so busy this year that I am not really thinking about it,” Lawson said when asked if he was targeting Red Bull Returns. “I am focusing on making some good races, obviously we have something recently, but three of them are not more than 12 races or many, so we need to do more, and then we will see.”

The timing in F1 is everything, and Lawson enters the summer brake with 20 points – just two shy of the tally of the Hudzar. He can reduce its importance, but it at least silence the doubt about it being beyond repair. This gives him a platform to build for the second half of the year, with several circuits ahead where he already has F1 experience.

“Yes, I think it is good to go to the track clearly that you have done in F1, and some tracks that really enjoy me,” he said in Hungary. “So yes, I think the second half is going to be exciting, I am eager for it, but I am definitely watching a few weeks holidays.”

Under the Christian Horner, Red Bull never gave the drivers a second opportunity that failed in the main team – no Pierre GalliThose who won a race and made podiums with Alfaturi were called back. But can that policy change now?

Red bull is still away from solving the problem of its second car. Tsaroda has so far provided the necessary continuity to strengthen its claim to stay for a long time. Inner sources suggest that Laurent McIis, who took over in July, is ready to give them more time-seeing that the car-spec’s difference with Vastapane has hurt their performance. In Spa and Hungary, Tsunoda showed a glimpse of progress, which included being within the two tenth part of the Westapense despite the Q1 exhaust. Nevertheless, all options remain open.

It will be ahead of time to suggest that Lawson is firmly back to a red bull seat. But with limited options and ongoing uncertainty, their better form could not come at a better time.

Whether Marco is correct or not, the initial “demotion” can become a blessing, Lawson has stopped the least slide – and gave himself something to play in the second half of 2025.