Liam Lawson

Interesting facts

His parents sold their house to help fund his karting career, and he still honours the mentor who coached him from age eight by racing with number 30. At 14 he won the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship, the youngest champion in the series' history. He made his F1 debut at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix for AlphaTauri, standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, and later knocked championship leader Max Verstappen out of Q2 on his way to ninth in Singapore. Promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2025 alongside Verstappen in place of Sergio Perez, he was demoted back to Racing Bulls after just two rounds (Australia, China); Helmut Marko later admitted the early promotion had been a mistake. At the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix he gestured with a middle finger at Sergio Perez after an overtake, later acknowledging it had been inappropriate behaviour. He continues with Racing Bulls into 2026, partnered by rookie Arvid Lindblad. Liam Lawson has been racing in Formula 1 since 2023 as a New Zealander driver. He scored a total of 103 championship points over his career. His best season was 2026, when he finished 9th in the championship with 59 points.