Liam Lawson Impresses in Formula One with Red Bull
Liam Lawson has spent the past week quietly turning heads in Formula One – and he may yet be needed again sooner than expected.
The New Zealander’s cameo at Zandvoort was already impressive on paper. Dropped into Red Bull’s RB22 without prior mileage, up against Max Verstappen in a car built around the world champion, Lawson had set himself a simple, brutal target: get within three-tenths of Verstappen’s pace.
He did better than that.
Stopping the clock just 0.115s shy, he not only beat his own benchmark, he delivered what many inside the paddock regarded as his standout achievement of the weekend. In a team where the reference lap usually belongs to Verstappen by default, that kind of deficit from a stand-in is the sort of number that lingers in engineers’ debriefs and team bosses’ notebooks.
Hadjar fitness race leaves Monza seat in play
Now, as the calendar rolls from Zandvoort to Monza, the question is whether Lawson’s next outing comes sooner than anyone planned.
Isack Hadjar’s fitness remains unresolved ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. There is no firm green light, no firm red one either. Multiple sources have indicated there are no guarantees about the Frenchman’s participation, only a clear intention: he will be given as much time as possible to prove he is ready to race at Monza.
Behind that diplomatic line sits a very real contingency plan.
One source has suggested that, in the worst-case scenario, Hadjar could take part in Friday’s first practice session, then step aside for Lawson if he is later ruled unfit to continue. That kind of mid-weekend handover would not be straightforward; it would require formal approval from the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, and would draw plenty of attention in a paddock already watching Red Bull’s driver moves with interest.
For now, the team waits on medical updates. Lawson, though, has not been waiting around.
Mugello mileage and a quiet audition
While Hadjar works to be ready, Lawson has been back at work in the RB22. Red Bull sent him to Mugello for a Pirelli tyre test, a low-profile assignment on paper that carried high-value mileage for the 22-year-old.
On the opening day at the Tuscan circuit, Lawson shared duties with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri as Pirelli continued its research and development programme for the 2027 Formula One tyre compounds. No championship points, no TV graphics, no roar of a Sunday crowd – just laps, data, and a rare chance to stretch a current-spec car on one of Europe’s most demanding tracks.
Lawson made it count. He logged 116 laps around Mugello, the equivalent of two full race distances, before handing the Red Bull over to Racing Bulls reserve Ayumu Iwasa overnight. Two Grands Prix worth of running in a single day: time to learn the car’s edges, time to refine his feedback, time to show the team he can deliver the same relentless consistency outside the glare of a race weekend.
For a driver on the fringes of a full-time seat, that kind of work is its own statement.
Countdown to Monza
The Italian Grand Prix weekend opens on September 4 (NZT), with the race set for September 7. Between now and then, Red Bull and Hadjar face a simple but delicate equation: risk a less-than-fully-fit driver at one of the fastest circuits on the calendar, or turn again to the reserve who has just matched his own ambitious target against Verstappen and pounded out two race distances in testing.
Monza rarely forgives hesitation. Nor, in this phase of his career, can Lawson afford to show any.
