Lawson hoping to carry on form

Kiwi Liam Lawson entered the summer break on a high and looks to continue the momentum where it all started.

Lawson’s F1 career started in infamous circumstances as a last-minute replacement for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023 after the Australian broke his hand in a practice crash.

Two years later the Kiwi has 25 starts under his belt at both Racing Bulls and Red Bull.

After a tough start to 2025 following his dropping from Red Bull, Lawson ended the first half of the season with a spring in his step.

He has finished in the points in three of the last four races, highlighted by a sixth place in Austria.

He backed that up with two P8s in Belgium and Hungary.

Despite this momentum, Lawson knows he will have to reset this weekend at Netherlands.

“It was a good feeling, was probably a lot of relief as well, to get some points and have a good result,” he said.

“But ultimately, you kind of reset every time you go to the next race, so I’m well aware that that changes very quickly.

“So the mindset very much resets every weekend.

“We just try and build up and do the same thing each weekend, and then hopefully we come in with points.”

Reflecting on his first weekend, Lawson admits there were more frantic than happy memories.

“It’s funny because I don’t think it’s good memories, because my memories of that weekend, most of them were just fear and pressure,” he said.

“It was, it was just a very tough weekend.

“It was so chaotic. Qualifying was very tricky. The race was, you know, even trickier.

“So, it was very much survival, trying to learn everything I could.

“I remember, there was probably 20 laps in there that it dried up, and I got into a rhythm, and I enjoyed that and then it rained again, and it was red flag, so it wasn’t a super enjoyable experience.”

It was a wet race in 2023 and that is more than likely the case this year with rain forecast to fall on all three days.

The fast, tight, flowing and old school nature of Zandvoort makes it a handful in the dry, let alone in the rain.

“I mean, those conditions were horrible for a first race,” he said.

“Generally, it is a complicated circuit. It’s very tough. It’s very physical here, with lots of cambered corners, and in general, just a lot of high speeds, not very many straights.

“The straights actually are very small here, so, on the body, it’s really physical.

“It’s very exciting, though high commitment.

“It’s one of those tracks that we don’t spend so much time on and it feels old school.

“The walls are very close, so it’s exciting to drive, and I’m sure this weekend, I should enjoy it more hopefully than I did last time.”

Image: Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Red Bull Content Pool

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