To become an F1 driver and earn millions in salaries early on in life, one has to spend big. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent in junior categories to climb the ladder, which often turns out to be a roadblock for youngsters who don’t come from wealth. Liam Lawson for one, came from a fairly ordinary background.
His father Jared, a sales manager, and his mother Kristy, a dental assistant, made lots of sacrifices to help fund the early days of his karting career, which is where almost all F1 aspirants start out from.
They had to go as far as selling their family home to keep things running. Still, it wasn’t quite enough and Lawson had to make compromises, especially on the technical front. Karts costed a lot which is why Lawson did not always have access to the best machinery.
Jared’s solution? To have him practice race starts in his sister Holly’s car.
A YouTube channel, Throttle Talk, highlighted this point in Lawson’s career in a recent video. It was revealed that the Kiwi would head to an empty parking lot to do what other drivers did on their karts—but in a Volkswagen Polo.
Liam Lawson last year: “My parents sold their house so that I could keep racing”
“It’s massive. They gave absolutely everything for me to be able to race, even just go-karts because it’s so expensive.” ❤️
[https://t.co/7QZfz5vZyx] pic.twitter.com/UZnBuo3JY4
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) December 19, 2024
It was a difficult road ahead for Lawson, and his parents took a huge gamble. Even his sisters, who were international level Irish dancers, gave up on their careers so that all the attention would go to him and his efforts to make it to the pinnacle of motorsport.
Thankfully, talent helped him get there.
In 2019, Red Bull signed him up to their driver academy and his racing career started getting taken care of. He repaid the faith too, showcasing his worth by finishing P3 in the F2 championship in 2022, and P2 in Super Formula a year later.
Finally, in 2023, the Milton Keynes-based outfit felt he was F1-ready, and Lawson got the opportunity to compete in five races as Daniel Ricciardo’s injury replacement at AlphaTauri (now known as Racing Bulls). The very next year, he once again stepped in for the Honey Badger—this time for the final six rounds of the campaign.
Lawson impressed. And Red Bull, in search of a successor to Sergio Perez, signed him to the main team. It was a proud moment for the 23-year-old, who recalled calling his dad to share the news. The Hastings-born driver had finally made it to the top.
Years of hardship had paid off. And although, after just two races, the Austrian outfit demoted him back to the sister team, Lawson is still a full-fledged F1 driver—with plenty left to prove at the highest level. He would definitely want to attain redemption after his horrific short-lived Red Bull stint.
