Called at the last minute to replace Isack Hadjar, who was injured in the wrist, Liam Lawson perfectly took advantage of his return to Red Bull at Zandvoort, which pleased his boss Laurent Mekies.
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Lawson had practically no preparation before getting back into the RB22.
Usually engaged with Racing Bulls, he had to adapt in a few hours to another single-seater, a new team of engineers, and different procedures.
Nice qualifying just a tenth behind Verstappen
“It is so difficult nowadays to switch from one team to another, so I think Liam did what he could”, explained the Red Bull director to Sky Sports F1.
His weekend had started modestly with 11th place in the Sprint. But Lawson significantly raised his level in qualifying by securing eighth position on the grid.
Above all, he finished just over a tenth of a second behind Verstappen, a particularly encouraging performance given his lack of preparation: “He obviously did a very good job in qualifying by being only a tenth behind Max”, Mekies emphasizes.
A seventh place difficult to evaluate
In the race, however, Lawson was not able to compete with the McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari. Verstappen’s retirement allowed him to take seventh place. Without the Dutchman as a reference, Mekies nevertheless prefers not to draw definitive conclusions about his replacement’s pace.
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“During the Grand Prix, he did a bit of a solo race, notes the French manager. We miss Max’s reference, so no judgment on the pace. But he took the points for seventh place and that was probably the best result he could get today.”
Lawson also received a ten-second penalty for not slowing down enough under yellow flag at turn 3 after Esteban Ocon stopped. However, this sanction had no impact on his final classification since he had a sufficient lead over Nico Hülkenberg.
Lawson highlights Red Bull’s lack of pace
The 24-year-old driver was not euphoric after the finish and acknowledges that the RB22 clearly lacked performance compared to the best cars: “The first lap was quite fun, but then we simply lacked the pace to keep up with the guys ahead,” he explains. I knew after qualifying that the race would be difficult. I probably didn’t think it would be to this extent, because we really struggled to keep up with the front teams.”
Lawson now intends to analyze the data to understand what he could possibly have improved. This replacement also has a special dimension for the New Zealander. Zandvoort was his first Grand Prix with Red Bull since his extremely difficult stint in the main team at the start of the 2025 season. After only two races, Lawson was then demoted to Racing Bulls.
This time, the circumstances were totally different and his time at Red Bull proved much more convincing: an eighth place in qualifying, a reduced gap with Verstappen, and six points thanks to his seventh place in the race. The question now is whether he will get another opportunity at Monza. Red Bull hopes to have Hadjar back by the Italian Grand Prix, but his return will depend on the evolution of his injury.
Even if his replacement was limited to Zandvoort, Lawson sent an important signal: called without preparation and placed in a particularly delicate situation, he this time perfectly seized the opportunity offered by Red Bull.
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