Last year, as teams came to terms with the new rules, Lawson and his Racing Bulls team found a loophole in those changes.
Liam Lawson with former teammate Isack Hadjar. Photo / Red Bull
The Kiwi deliberately drove slow, and created a gap that allowed his teammate Isack Hadjar to pit twice in front of him, before Williams copied tack and let Lawson do the same in response, to take eighth place in what was, at the time, a career-best result.
But now, back at the scene of his first points of 2025, Lawson concedes there can be no mistakes if he’s to do the same.
“For us, personally, we should get to push hard this weekend,” he said. “The intensity here is so high [with] the concentration you have to have.
“It’s pretty iconic, when [Ayrton] Senna drove here and backed off, he crashed. That’s the best way to describe driving here – you need that ultimate concentration all the time.
“It’s an amazing feeling when you’re on the limit and in that zone, but you definitely can’t leave it.”
However, while last year saw Lawson arrive in Monaco without any points, this time around is significantly different.
Points finishes in China, Japan and Canada see the Kiwi sit 10th in the drivers championship, as the second-best placed of the Red Bull stable – 27 points behind Max Verstappen, but two clear of Hadjar, and 11 in front of Arvid Lindblad.
Last year’s Monaco finish kick-started Lawson’s campaign after a difficult start, where he was demoted by Red Bull back to Racing Bulls after just two races.
That campaign saw Lawson and Hadjar lead Racing Bulls to sixth in the constructors championship, the best result in the team’s history.
And while there is still plenty of races left to drive and points to be earned, Lawson acknowledges his strong start to this season, with more to come.
“It’s good,” he said. “For us, things fell into place in Canada, a little bit, with cars retiring in front of us. In general, it’s been a good year.
“It’s hard getting used to these new cars, but we’re getting a handle on things.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.