Liam Lawson's 2025 F1 journey: From Red Bull not the 'most enjoyable' to Racing Bulls' 'happy to be racing'

Liam Lawson has not had the "most enjoyable" time racing in Formula One 2025 season where he had been part of all the three Grand Prix but with two different teams. The 23-year-old New Zealander started as a Red Bull driver and partnered with current F1 world champion Max Verstappen for the first two races of the 2025 season in Melbourne and Shanghai.

But a poor show in the two races saw his fortunes plummet and he was demoted to the Red Bull feeder team Racing Bulls. His place in the Red Bull team was taken up by Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda for the third race on the Suzuka circuit.

His form did not improve dramatically for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka where he started 13th, yet came 17th after his single pit-stop strategy failed. His teammate Isack Hadjar had a much better race, finishing at the 8th spot.


Admitting that it has been a "crazy couple of weeks", Lawson is now preparing for the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 13. “It’s nice to be racing again. After some chaotic weeks, to go racing and focus on that is the best thing for me," he stated on Thursday, a day before the practice sessions start on Friday.

He had no idea that he would be asked to leave Red Bull and go back to Racing Bulls after the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. "I found out after China, basically. It was I think for all of us probably more unexpected, but it was after the weekend," he said.

He added that he was excited about the Japanese Grand Prix as he had raced in the country's Super Formula at Suzuka. But The Red Bull team management decided that the Kiwi driver was not up to the standards required and sent him back to the junior squad.

But he is excited to be part of Formula One. "Yeah, I thought I was pretty happy last week to be fair. I don't know, I think... yeah, I'm happy, I'm happy to be racing," added Lawson.