How ‘One Big Overtake’ Launched Liam Lawson’s Journey to the Pinnacle of Red Bull

Liam Lawson has finally earned the big call-up to Red Bull. Having been a part of the Red Bull junior team since 2019, the New Zealander dreamed of representing the Milton Keynes-based outfit someday, and in 2025, his wish will come true. Lawson will replace Sergio Perez and team up with Max Verstappen, culminating a journey that began with a single overtake.

Lawson reflected on his career before getting to F1 on the Pitstop podcast, where he revealed how a group of individuals from his home country crowdfunded, hoping to get him to Europe so that he could land a contract from one of the F1 teams’ academies.

“We set up a group of—at this point—five key people the year before this (2019) to invest a certain amount of money in me,” he said. “To go to Europe, to try and get picked up by a junior team.” 

Lawson and his group of Kiwi investors knew that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the higher Formulas without the backing of an F1 team. Unfortunately, the series he competed in—German F4—did not help him land a contract despite him finishing second.

That’s when Lawson decided to return to New Zealand and compete in the Toyota Racing Series, where the likes of Lando Norris have competed in the past. “I knew this was my last shot because really we had to plan for 2019.” 

“Welcome to Red Bull Racing”

Click below to watch Liam’s first interview for Oracle Red Bull Racing

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 19, 2024

Surprisingly for Lawson, he secured the contract after just his first race weekend. He recalled that it was largely thanks to Chief Advisor and Head of Red Bull’s Junior Program Helmut Marko, who noticed him pull off a brilliant overtake that likely sealed the deal.

Lawson added that Lucas Auer, a junior driver for Red Bull at the time, was his teammate. So Marko was down under to watch Auer, which is where the Austrian also noticed him. Eventually, Red Bull helped Lawson climb the ranks and get to F2, where he finished third in 2022.

After that, he became a reserve driver for Red Bull/RB and delivered when asked to replace Daniel Ricciardo, first in 2022 and then in 2023. Now, Lawson will become a full-time driver for Red Bull and is likely to get the chance to compete for race wins and podiums consistently next year onwards.