Liam Lawson will drive for Red Bull for a third race in Madrid this weekend. Image: XPB Images
The New Zealander was recalled to the senior squad at Zandvoort following Isack Hadjar’s wrist injury, more than a year after his brief stint with Red Bull at the beginning of 2025 ended with a move back to Racing Bulls.
Two races into his latest spell, Lawson has produced contrasting results but feels his performances have reflected what has been possible with the machinery available to him.
Asked in Madrid whether his recent displays represented an answer to those who doubted whether he deserved another opportunity with Red Bull, Lawson played down any desire to prove a point.
“Yeah, maybe. It’s honestly not something I really think too much about. It was a very long time ago. Feels like a long time ago at least,” Lawson said.
“It was also very early in my Formula 1 career. We had a strong season, or second half of last season, and then this year has been very, very positive.
“So people are going to judge however they want to. But at the end of the day, in whatever car I’m driving, I’m going to try and get the most out of it.
“And I feel like the last two weekends we’ve done that.”
Lawson made an immediate impression on his return at Zandvoort, reaching Q3 and qualifying eighth before converting that into seventh place in the race.
His Monza weekend proved far less straightforward after qualifying 14th before power unit changes meant he began the Italian Grand Prix from the pit lane.
Lawson had recovered to 11th during the opening stages before contact with Nico Hulkenberg damaged his front wing, forcing him back into the pits and costing substantial time.
He eventually crossed the line 14th, but pointed to the incident rather than outright pace as the moment that compromised his afternoon.
Hadjar’s continued recovery has now handed Lawson another chance in the RB22 at the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at Madring this weekend.
The new circuit brings a different challenge, with Lawson expecting Friday practice to be heavily focused on building familiarity rather than immediately pursuing extensive setup work.
“The very first lap is, just on an out lap, building everything up. But it’s just learning the track,” he said.
“I think building up, almost like you’re in Monaco at the start of a weekend, and making sure that you do all the laps. I think on a track like this you want to have as much time on track as possible.”
Lawson said established venues allow drivers and teams greater freedom to devote practice time elsewhere, whereas Madrid’s unknowns will make accumulating laps particularly valuable before qualifying.
“Whereas here, it’s really about doing the laps and making sure that basically by qualifying, you’ve prepared as much as you can.”
The Madrid weekend also continues Lawson’s adjustment to working inside Red Bull again after spending the bulk of his Formula 1 career with Racing Bulls.
Despite both teams sitting under the same wider Red Bull umbrella, Lawson said the day-to-day environments were markedly different.
“It is different. Very different. They’re just completely different teams regardless of the name behind it,” he said.
“Each team has their own ways of going about doing things, and they both have their own methods. It’s very very different. It’s something that definitely I’m getting used to.”
2026 F1 Spanish Grand Prix – Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more