Liam Lawson said his parents sold their house to pay for his racing career and haven’t bought one yet.
The 23-year-old will start his first full season in Formula 1 this weekend as Max Verstappen’s new team mate at Red Bull.
Lawson said he made an unsuccessful start to his karting career in New Zealand, where he finished last in every race during his first season of racing, aged seven. However he soon began complaining to his parents about the quality of his machinery.
“I think I complained to my dad for more than a year about my kart,” he told GQ. “I’d tell him that the engine sucked, but he just secretly thought that I sucked.
“Eventually, he got sick of me whining and bought two good engines, and we put them on for the first time at this big race. And when we went out, we qualified first. We started racing at the front all the time. That was the definitive moment, when karting became serious. It was always serious to me. But for my dad, everything changed that one weekend.”
The family sold their house so they could spend more on Lawson’s racing career as he rose up through the tiers of racing. “They still don’t own a house,” he said. “Because of me.”
Lawson made his F1 debut as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, then was called up to replace him last season. He praised how Ricciardo handled the situation
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“I actually spoke to Daniel a lot when it was happening,” he said. “I will always have so much respect for him.
“Throughout the whole ordeal, from when the rumours started to when they were confirmed, he never said a bad word about or towards me. He never made it about me and him, because at the end of the day, it wasn’t our decision. It’s up to the team, and what they decide to do. He was so good to me, through all of it.
“Fast forward to December, when I got the Red Bull seat, and Daniel is still the only driver, past or present, to send me a message about it, congratulating me. It says a lot about him as a person.”
After returning to F1 with RB last year, Lawson impressed Red Bull enough to promote him to their main team. But he irritated some of his rival F1 drivers, including Sergio Perez, whose Red Bull seat he took, and Fernando Alonso.
“It’s funny, because I’ve met a lot of guys that I looked up to as a kid, like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso,” he said. “When you’re younger, they’re your heroes. Now, they’re my competitors.
“I mean, the first time I met Alonso, he yelled at me. Maybe he was having a bad day.”
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