It took just two race weekends for Red Bull to decide promoting Liam Lawson from their second F1 team had been a mistake and to relegate him back where he came from.

Even at the time, this jaw-droppingly fast U-turn raised more doubts over their decision-making than Lawson’s qualities as a driver. Now at the half-season mark, with Lawson finding his feet back at Racing Bulls, Yuki Tsunoda enduring life as Red Bull’s number two, and significant management changes going on at Red Bull, there is even more reason not to judge him too harshly for his start to the season.

Lawson had a less than ideal build-up to his first qualifying appearance for Red Bull, missing the final practice session due to a power unit problem. In the rain-hit race, a gutsy decision not to pit for intermediate tyres when fresh rain fell led to a crash.

The gulf in pace between Lawson and Max Verstappen was wide, so much so that the newcomer took last on the grand prix grid at Shanghai. That proved Lawson’s last start for the team, albeit not the final time the car qualified at the rear of the field.

After two races on unfamiliar tracks, Red Bull bounced Lawson back to Racing Bulls, where he took several races to find his feet against the impressive Isack Hadjar. As early as Bahrain, Lawson’s race pace looked a match for his team mate’s, but he picked up two penalties in that race and another one, albeit a somewhat borderline call, in Jeddah.

Liam Lawson

Best Worst
GP start 6 20
GP finish 6 17
Points 20

Partly because of these setbacks, Lawson’s deficit to Hadjar in the points standings has grown too wide for comfort. But Lawson can point to some misfortunes: He was blamelessly eliminated in first-lap collisions at Miami and Silverstone, his Imola weekend was ruined when he caught red flags during Q1 and a points chance went begging in Catalunya due to the timing of the Safety Car.

He contributed to a strong day for the team in Monaco, joining his team mate in Q3 and playing the team role to hold up their rivals. However Lawson then matched Hadjar’s sixth place with an excellent performance at the Red Bull Ring – ironically aided by a point-less day for the team that dropped him.

While Lawson has been on a clear upward trajectory since returning to Racing Bulls, there’s no denying he has missed a lot of chances. He especially needs to raise his game in qualifying to stay out of the midfield melee.

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