Liam Lawson sought to downplay the more senior role he is set to take on at Racing Bulls in 2026, pointing out that he only has one full season in Formula 1 himself.<\/p>\n
Lawson first joined the grid in 2023 as an injury replacement for Daniel Ricciardo, lasting five races before moving back into a reserve role for 2024, competing in the final six races of the season in 2024.<\/p>\n
Liam Lawson downplays \u2018senior\u2019 driver tag as Lindblad arrives at Racing Bulls<\/p>\n
Despite it being his third season taking part in Formula 1 in 2025, it was the first season in which Lawson<\/a> was on the grid for every race.<\/p>\n Even then, there was disruption, too, having taken part in the first two rounds with Red Bull before switching back to the sister team.<\/p>\n The New Zealander impressed with his performances in the second half of 2025, with his status at the team having been confirmed prior to the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n He will be joined by British rookie Arvid Lindblad next season, with the teenager having been highly rated within the Red Bull stable on his way up to Formula 1.<\/p>\n Despite Lindblad\u2019s potential, though, Lawson explained that, when taken together, he is only a \u2018veteran\u2019 of a season-and-a-half\u2019s worth of races in Formula 1.<\/p>\n With all-new cars and brand new regulations to work with in 2026, he is looking to use the lessons he has learned to help him on the way forwards.<\/p>\n More on the all-new regulations for F1 2026<\/p>\n F1 2026 tech analysed: The future of overtaking and biggest car advantage identified<\/a><\/p>\n F1 2025 vs F1 2026: Nine key questions ahead of massive regulation changes<\/a><\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Put to Lawson that he could hold some sort of advantage at Racing Bulls by the experience he now holds, he replied to PlanetF1.com and other accredited media: \u201cYeah, but at the same time, it\u2019s going to be a new car for me too \u2013 but yes, it\u2019s great to have a year.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I learned a lot from this year, and I think the main thing is for me, just being as ready as possible for next year, taking all of the learnings from this year and, like any year, next year will be very, very important for me.<\/p>\n \u201cFor sure, I expect the team to probably lean on me a little bit for experience. But at the same time, I\u2019ve done one [full] season.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough you learn a huge amount in one season in Formula 1, what I hope is there are a lot of years to learn as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Racing Bulls<\/a> will be launching its new car in an unveiling in Detroit, in conjunction with Red Bull\u2019s power unit partner, Ford, on January 15th.<\/p>\n With that, he explained his off-season time would need to be spent efficiently before the new season ramps up later in January.<\/p>\n Asked about how he would spend the shorter-than-usual gap between seasons, Lawson replied: \u201cPit stop at home, basically, go and see the family in New Zealand and then we\u2019re basically back to work in early January.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a very busy year next year, especially the first part, but we have a huge amount to learn.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the drivers, for us, it\u2019s going to be a very different driving style next year for us to get on top of these cars, and it\u2019s probably going to take quite a bit of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Mat Coch and Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n