Liam Lawson has spoken for the first time since his last minute Red Bull call up. Image: XPB Images
The New Zealander was expecting to begin his usual preparations with Racing Bulls after arriving in the United Kingdom on Monday, only to be told he would instead be returning to Red Bull at Zandvoort.
Lawson has been drafted in to replace the injured Isack Hadjar, who was ruled out of the weekend after sustaining a wrist injury during Formula 1’s summer shutdown, with the call-up forcing a sudden change to his Dutch GP preparations.
“I literally landed, I hadn’t even got off the plane,” Lawson said when asked when he found out about the call-up.
“I had come from basically being on break and landed in the UK for what I thought was going to be obviously VCARB prep.
“Alan [Permane] called me and basically he told me what was going on. So then my week changed pretty quickly.”
His unexpected recall was confirmed on Wednesday, with Lawson moving across to partner Max Verstappen and Red Bull reserve Yuki Tsunoda taking his place alongside Arvid Lindblad at Racing Bulls.
The move gives the 24-year-old another opportunity with Red Bull after his previous spell with the team lasted just two rounds at the beginning of the 2025 season.
Lawson has since rebuilt his F1 career with Racing Bulls and enters Zandvoort sitting ninth in the drivers’ championship, but his attention has quickly shifted towards adapting to a substantially different car.
With the Dutch Grand Prix also a sprint weekend, Lawson will have just one practice session before competitive action begins.
“Everything’s really different, to be honest. For me, I’m coming in for this weekend and in a unique situation to try and maximise one weekend,” he said.
“It’s very different to being in your own car, being in your own team. At the same time, I’ve had a lot of races since then, F1 as well. So, learned a huge amount.
“I’d like to try and take as much of that into this weekend as I can, but it’s for sure going to be interesting. It’s a tough track, weather is going to be very interesting as well. So, yeah, let’s see.”
Lawson said he completed a Red Bull simulator session on Wednesday as part of his limited preparation and believed familiarity with the team’s power unit should at least remove one unknown.
“At least the power unit is the same, so that’s one thing that should hopefully help things,” he said.
“But in terms of the car itself, they’re completely different. That’s going to be for sure a challenge.
“It’s just the nature of a sprint weekend having one practice session, I’m pretty aware that it’s going to be a lot to build up to.
“To start, it’s probably going to feel very foreign. I’m sure it’s going to be quite tough.”
Lawson said he expected the early stages of Friday practice to be largely about understanding the RB22 before attempting to build towards qualifying later in the weekend.
He added that he would also have Verstappen’s data available as another reference to accelerate that process.
“Obviously I’ve spoken to Max [Verstappen],” Lawson said. “I’ve spoken to him plenty of times as well in the past.
“I’m sure I will be looking at a lot of what he’s doing tomorrow. I have his simulator stuff as well as a reference to look at.”
Despite the circumstances surrounding his last Red Bull stint, Lawson played down suggestions that stepping back into the senior team presented a significant risk to the progress he had made this season.
“In terms of it maybe being a risk, I don’t know… it’s a unique situation to be in.
“It’s been a great year so far in my car, but at the same time, I’m excited for the opportunity this weekend to drive something different, to be back with this team, even if it’s for just a weekend.”
Lawson similarly dismissed the idea that being recalled represented any form of vindication after losing his Red Bull seat to Tsunoda early last year.
“Honestly, it feels like a long time ago and it’s such a different circumstance now as well, obviously now being one week,” he said.
“I haven’t really looked at it like that. For me we’ve had a really good year so far, and obviously I’m grateful to have been chosen for something like this.
“But I’m really focused on trying to get something out of the weekend. It would be great to do that and have a good weekend, but I’m sure it’s going to be challenging.”
Lawson is no stranger to unexpected driver changes at Zandvoort, having made his F1 debut at the circuit in 2023 after Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand during practice.
He said that experience left him confident he had already faced an even more difficult introduction at the Dutch venue.
“I’ve had some pretty tough weekends in Formula 1 to be fair,” Lawson said.
“Literally I think three years ago was Zandvoort when Daniel had his injury and I jumped in. So, that’s got to be number one toughest weekends ever.
“I would hope that this is not tougher than that, but it’s going to be tricky for sure. I’m grateful to have had those experiences in the past as well.
“I think they sort of help build you for something like this.”
FP1 for the Dutch Grand Prix gets underway at 12.30pm local time Friday (8.30pm AEST).
2026 F1 Dutch Grand Prix – Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more