Liam Lawson lifts lid on F1 barriers and his Red Bull future doubts

Formula 1 is often compared to individual sports, but Lawson was quick to point out that a driver’s fate rarely rests purely in their own hands. Between mechanical reliability, strategy calls, and lap-one clashes, achieving consistent results, especially when scrapping for the final points places, as a relentless uphill battle.

"In most other sports, whether it's tennis or golf, most of them are down to the player and their racket or whatever they're using," Lawson explained. "Whereas in Formula 1, there's an entire team of people around you. There's the mechanical side, reliability, whether other drivers crash into you or you crash into them. Sometimes as a racing driver, we use it as an excuse too much, but it's something we're fighting all the time. Especially in the midfield when you're fighting for P9 and P10, trying to score points every week, it can be very tough when you have all that to factor in."

Beyond the cockpit pressures, the New Zealander warned that entry into top-tier motorsport is becoming increasingly elitist. Even with an expanded 22-car grid on the horizon, soaring junior category budgets mean deserving drivers are being priced out before they ever reach the radar of an F1 team.

"The bigger thing is Formula 1 is too hard to get into. It's too expensive for people to try and get into," Lawson said. "There are so many drivers that never even get the chance to showcase what they can do in a race car. It starts from a young age. Going go-kart racing is just insanely expensive. The kid who's got six or seven engines versus the kid who can't test and can't run new tyres—access is very, very hard. It's great that there are two more seats now, but it's a sport of 22 seats in the world. It feels like it's getting more in that direction where it's just too difficult."

Lawson also took time to reflect on his turbulent tenure balancing duties across Red Bull's stable, hitting back at critics who doubted his capability following compromised runs.

Despite the disruption of being moved between machinery mid-season, Lawson remains confident that adapting to the deep end has only sharpened his racecraft.