Liam Lawson admits he was surprised to be returning to Racing Bulls ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix and believes his best interests were served staying at Red Bull.
Two tough races to start the season led to Red Bull making a shock driver change last week, with Lawson swapping seats with Yuki Tsunoda who has been promoted on account of his greater experience. One reason given by team principal Christian Horner was that Red Bull has “a duty of care to protect and develop Liam”, but when those comments were put to Lawson by RACER he confirmed he holds a different view.
“I think confidence-wise it doesn’t change a lot,” Lawson said. “We all have enough self-belief to be here and to make it to Formula 1. If you don’t have that self-belief, it makes it very difficult. So I think we all have that naturally – it doesn’t really change how I feel about myself.
“I think what it’s doing for me… Obviously, the best opportunity I had felt like it was with Red Bull Racing. That’s where we’re all working towards. That’s what I was working towards since joining the junior program as a 16-year-old. So obviously, I would have liked to make that opportunity work and that’s in my best interest. But obviously, Christian and the team will have their opinions on what’s best, and that’s up to them to decide.”
Speculation relating to Lawson’s future began during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, but the New Zealander insists he had not been given the impression he could be replaced so soon.
“No, I had no idea in China. It was something that was decided, I guess, the Monday or Tuesday afterwards. I found out after China basically. So yeah, it was, I think for all of us, probably more unexpected. But it was after the weekend.
“[The first communication] was more of a done deal, I would say. I left China … starting preparations for Japan, and basically I had a phone call basically saying that this was what was going to happen.
“I think I was more surprised. Obviously it’s very early in the season and I would say I was hoping to go to a track that I’d raced before and have a clean weekend, to have a chance like that. But the decision obviously was made when I was told.
“So although it was tough to hear, I had one or two days to sort of think about it, and then I was in Faenza with VCARB starting preparations, seat fits, and then you’re basically just focused on the job. I have the opportunity to still be in Formula 1 and still racing, and that is the main thing for me.
“With this opportunity, I’m excited to be here. Obviously it’s been a strong start to the season for this team – for VCARB – so I guess it’s exciting for me to now come in here in this position.”
Lawson’s demotion came after a disrupted pre-season, reliability issues in practice in Australia and then a Sprint weekend in China, with both tracks being new to the 23-year-old. While not feeling hard done by to face problems, he suggests those aspects were not factored into the decision to replace him.
“In Formula 1 it’s, it’s motorsport, we have issues. That’s part of [the sport] especially with these cars that are pushing the limits like they are. I think I’d maybe hoped that that would be maybe taken into consideration more. And I think that’s why for me it was important to come to a place that I’d raced before and driven before [at Suzuka].
“Melbourne and China are both tough tracks. And with the way the weekends went, they weren’t the smoothest. But it’s motorsport, and as I said, the decision was not mine, but I’ll make the most of this one.”
