In July, Lawson was overlooked for an upgraded cooling system for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, which instead went to teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Speaking to media after the weekend’s opening practice session, Permane clarified that the 19-year-old had been given the upgrade after an internal challenge between Lawson and Lindblad, with whoever qualified highest for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone receiving the new parts.
“It’s not so easy, we don’t like bringing updates for just one car,” Permane explained at the time. “It was impossible for us to do it to two cars.
“So what I did was sat down with both drivers in Austria, on Saturday evening. We’d had a very good qualifying, I thought ‘while everyone is in a good mood, I’ll give some bad news. We have a good update coming, but we can only do one car for Spa. The next car will be done for the race after, in Budapest’.
“I suggested the simple option, to make it fair, to upgrade no cars for Spa and then both for Budapest. [Lawson and Lindblad] looked at me like I was crazy. I wouldn’t have ever done that.
Liam Lawson at Spa Francorchamps. Photo / Red Bull
“The next thing I said was we could flip a coin, or make it a bit of fun and say whoever qualifies in front in Silverstone gets the upgrade. They both signed up for it, and that’s what we did.”
Lawson received the upgraded package one race later at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and has since gone on a run to become easily the standout midfield driver in the sport.
The Kiwi currently sits ninth in the drivers championship as the “best of the rest” – the top driver outside the sport’s top four teams of Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.
What’s more, as Racing Bulls battle Alpine for fifth in the constructors championship – and an estimated prizemoney windfall of $180 million – Lawson has contributed the bulk of his team’s 100 points, 32 clear of the French constructor in sixth.
In fact, most tellingly, Lawson’s 75 points – scored across Racing Bulls and a three-race spell with Red Bull this year – have him seven clear of Alpine on his own, at a time where an announcement on his future is expected in the coming weeks.
The US Grand Prix begins with the opening practice session at 6.30am on October 24 (NZT).
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.