Liam Lawson is crystal clear about his confidence after ‘very messy’ RedBull breakup

Liam Lawson opened up about his confidence after an early exit from Red Bull, suggesting that his two-race stint with the Austrain team wasn't enough time to make him question his abilities. The 23-year-old was brought in as Sergio Perez's replacement over the winter, but was sent back to Racing Bulls after his weak bid for RedBull's second seat.

Lawson experienced a dismal start to his 2025 Formula 1 season, exiting Q1 in the season opener at Australia and qualifying dead last in both the sprint and main race at Shanghai. Consequently, the Kiwi failed to secure a points-paying finish and casted doubts within the Red Bull heirarchy about his adaptability with the RB21.

In a bid to salvage their constructor's championship, the energy drink company initiated a driver swap with Yuki Tsunoda, who went on to secure his first points with the team in Bahrain.

Speaking to RacingNews365, Lawson reflected on his brief stint with RedBull.

"Confidence-wise, nothing has really changed from the start of the year. I didn’t spend anywhere near enough time for me to reflect on those two races to go,‘Oh my god, I’ve really struggled in this car and lost my ability.' It wasn’t like that, I did two races which were very messy due to a lot of factors, so I think confidence-wise, it didn’t really change anything,” he said.

Liam Lawson had no prior experience racing in Australia or China. Moreover, he also missed an FP3 session in Melbourne due to a Turbo failure. To make matters worse, wet weather played spoil sport in his debut, resulting in Lawson crashing out on lap 47, marking his first DNF of the season.

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"It was not good news" : Racing Bulls CEO gets honest on driver swap with Liam Lawson

Racing Bull CEO Peter Bayer recently shared his thoughts on Liam Lawson's return to the junior team. He recalled a conversation with RedBull advisor Helmut Marko regarding the driver swap and admitted that he was initially hesitant to disrupt the team's harmony.

Speaking to RacingNews365, Bayer revealed how the team spent the winter break building around Tsunoda and rookie Isack Hadjar, before being thrown off course by the sudden change.

"I had a call from Helmut after China (GP), and he said they were thinking about making a move, that the pressure on Liam was rising, that he was finding it difficult, and the testing in Bahrain didn't work. To me, in that very moment, it was not good news, because there was great harmony in the team," he said.

In his current seat at Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson is yet to secure a points finish and is ranked 18th in the driver's standings, four spots below his team mate, Isack Hadjar.