Lawson recalls how one question 'pi**ed off' Marko but led to his F1 breakthrough

Daniel Ricciardo's Formula 1 comeback came to an abrupt halt during the second practice session for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, when a crash at Turn 3 left him with a fractured metacarpal in his left hand and forced him to miss several races. Red Bull responded by handing his seat to young New Zealander Liam Lawson, despite the fact he had never started a Formula 1 Grand Prix before.

Lawson immediately impressed on his debut at Zandvoort and continued to deliver strong performances over the following races. Those performances ultimately convinced Helmut Marko and Red Bull to promote him to the senior team alongside Max Verstappen for the 2025 season, although his spell with the Milton Keynes outfit lasted just two Grands Prix.

Speaking on the F1: Off The Grid podcast, Lawson recalled approaching Marko during the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix weekend after spending several days reflecting on his future. Having been part of Red Bull's junior programme for five years without an opportunity in Formula 1, the New Zealander decided to ask Marko directly why he still had not been given a chance. The conversation did not go as he had hoped, with Lawson admitting Marko quickly shut it down, leaving him frustrated as he discussed the meeting with his coach afterwards.

Only a short time later, however, everything changed. Following Daniel Ricciardo's injury, Red Bull began evaluating its options for a replacement rather than immediately deciding on Lawson: “I had three days of basically reflecting on stuff, and then I flew to Zandvoort. I decided I’m just going to sit down with Helmut and press him, basically find out what he’s thinking.

Eventually, Marko called him into his office and asked a single question about whether he was ready. Lawson answered yes, and within moments he had been given the opportunity to make his Formula 1 debut.

During Formula 1's summer break, the drivers took part in another episode of Grill the Grid, the series that sees them compete in a variety of off-track challenges for points. This time, they were asked to identify Formula 1 drivers based solely on the teams they had represented during their careers, both past and present.

One of the questions focused on a driver who had raced only for Toro Rosso and Red Bull. Before realising the answer was Max Verstappen, Alex Albon jokingly suggested that such a driver could not exist, making a tongue-in-cheek reference to Red Bull's reputation for frequently replacing its drivers. The light-hearted remark drew laughter from those around him and alluded to the fact that he was among the drivers whose spell with the team ended after a relatively short time.