New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. Photo: ANTONIN VINCENT / PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson said his confidence has never taken a hit.
Lawson is preparing for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend with the pressure remaining well and truly on his shoulders.
He is 16th in the Drivers' Championship standings having scored points just twice in 12 races so far this season, while his Racing Bulls team is seventh out of 10 in the Constructors' Championship.
The 23-year-old started the season alongside world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull, but was demoted after just two GP's, replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.
With a three week break, Lawson has had time to reflect on the first half of the season and spoke to Formula1.com.
"Obviously, the start of the year, [we had] the big shake-up with the team switch, and then not really having the time to get to grips with things, racing every weekend, and trying to be at the level that I need to be at. It's been a lot," Lawson said.
He admits he hasn't really had a chance to process what has gone on so far, but hopes to do that when the calendar takes a four week break in August.
"We all know we have a couple more races coming up before then. You're still in that mindset, you're still thinking about what just happened, how we're going to improve in the next couple of races, and how I'm going to improve myself. You're just in it."
New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, Austria 2025. Photo: ALBERTO VIMERCATI / PHOTOSPORT
It has been a tough year for the young Kiwi with the difficulties of performing in the Red Bull car (which Yuki Tsunoda has struggled with also), adjusting to the new team and taking on new tracks.
"It's been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false. From the start of the year, I felt the same as I always have."
In his first two races for Racing Bulls, Lawson finished 17th in Japan and 16th in Bahrain, he also had DNF's (Did Not Finish) in Miami, Canada and Great Britain.
Limited testing time has also been an issue for Lawson for has had to familiarise himself with the car in race mode each week.
"I've just ignored everything that happened, and I've just focused on trying to drive the car - but I know there was a lot of stuff that went out that was speculation about how I was feeling.
"My confidence hasn't changed since the start of the year to now," Lawson told Formula1.com.
Remaining F1 Grands Prix:
July 27, Belgium
August 3, Hungary
August 31, Dutch
September 7, Italy (Monza)
September 21, Azerbaijan
October 5, Singapore
October 19, US (Texas)
October 26, Mexico
November 9, Brazil
November 22, Las Vegas
November 30, Qatar
December 7, Abu Dhabi
Racing Bulls F1 lineup (L to R) Iasck Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Laurent Mekies. Photo: ANTONIN VINCENT / AFP
