“He did a very good job, again very different pictures compared to the first two races of 2025 when he was in the team, so we are thankful and happy with that.”
He added: “He has continued to grow as a driver. He’s very calm in the car, he is very focused. He’s managed to keep things simple in the way he interacts with the team and in the way he tackles his own performance and the car performance. So he’s focused on the essentials.
“He tries to get the basic rights and it’s working for him, of course with more time in the car, you can then get to another degree of finesse, maybe. But yeah, I think that approach is very, very strong.”
Heading into this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Lawson is 12 points and one place behind Hadjar (who is in P8) in the drivers’ standings – and three places adrift of Verstappen. That is a very strong showing.
Though he impressed Red Bull with the way he handled himself and performed at the factory team, he is not believed to be in the running for a full-time return in the future – however, he has only served to improve his standing within the Red Bull family.
His performance will also have done wonders for his confidence – and he’ll need all that belief as his fight looks to be with keeping his seat at Racing Bulls next season.
While he is favourite to get another year, Team Principal Alan Permane has yet to confirm his line-up and Lawson will be well aware of Red Bull junior and F2 championship leader Nikola Tsolov waiting in the wings.
Lawson, then, will be aiming to hit the ground running on his return to Racing Bulls – who have shown they’ve got a car capable of scoring at any type of circuit this year – and picking up where he left off.
Based on the way he handled his time at Red Bull and his run of form up until that point, he’s in a very good spot to do just that.