Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane insists there is “some genius in there” when it comes to Liam Lawson.
The New Zealander has endured a fragmented introduction to Formula 1 since his surprise debut at the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, with next season promising to be the first time he’s had stability heading into the year.
Why Alan Permane insists there ‘some genius’ in Liam Lawson
Liam Lawson will partner Arvid Lindblad at Racing Bulls for the F1 2026 campaign.
The Kiwi was retained in favour of Yuki Tsunoda after the Japanese driver was ousted from the Red Bull senior team by now-ex-Racing Bulls pilot Isack Hadjar.
But while Hadjar stole the headlines in his rookie season, by year end, Lawson had made significant ground on his French teammate.
It’s a point that went almost unnoticed, perhaps lost in the late-season interest in the championship battle, a point lost following a difficult start to the year that saw his stock rise and fall in rapid succession.
But following the Chinese Grand Prix, Lawson worked to rebuild.
Back with Racing Bulls, the team with which he made his F1 debut, there was a degree of familiarity and comfort – even if his engineering team was entirely different.
And slowly things started to gel. There were promising signs in Monaco, and a breakthrough in Austria. And while his return to form may have been lost to many, those at Red Bull clearly spotted it.
“I really see some genius in there,” Permane told PlanetF1.com in an exclusive interview.
“And I think it’s down to all of us, himself included, to try and figure out, when it goes very, very well, and it does go very, very well a lot of times – you have exceptional races in Austria, in Budapest, that qualifying and race in Baku – just what’s clicking then? And let’s do that across the whole season.”
While Lawson raced for Racing Bulls in 2024, he spent the off-season and pre-season with Red Bull, driving a vastly different car – perhaps with a higher potential performance peak, but with a far narrower operating window.
It was a difficult car to drive versus the VCARB02, a machine Permane himself has confessed was deliberately developed to be compliant with its drivers.
Swapping teams following the Chinese Grand Prix, there was no opportunity to adapt for Lawson; his learning happened in Suzuka, then Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
It took time, all the while Hadjar across the other side of the garage, was identifying himself as a rising star.
Behind the scenes, Lawson was working hard to reignite a career that looked to have stalled – or worse.
Then came the Austrian Grand Prix, where something clicked.
“I think it’s more than that,” Permane said.
“He and his race engineer spent a long time in the simulator, playing with front suspension geometries and steering geometries.
“There were bits he wasn’t happy with, and bits he wasn’t super comfortable with the car.
“They found something which we actually had on the car in Monaco, and he had a good weekend in Monaco, very decent weekend.
“But then we carried it over to Austria, and he was super happy with the car there.”
It was a critical moment, the first time in F1 2025 that he beat his teammate. Sixth place matched Hadjar’s effort in Monaco – a result that was aided in no small amount to unpalatable tactics encouraged (and rewarded) by mandatory two-stop rules that weekend.
While Lawson was a DNF in the British Grand Prix, he was eighth in both Belgium and Hungary, besting Hadjar on each weekend. Soon after came Azerbaijan, where he finished fifth.
“That was a turning point,” Permane acknowledged when asked of the importance of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
“It was something that we did to the car, but at his direction, so he led that, or he and his race engineer led that.
“It made him much more comfortable with the car.”
More on Liam Lawson
F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates
Verstappen doubles down on Red Bull disagreement over Lawson’s axing
That moment allowed Lawson to demonstrate his worth, and put in an account of himself that made Red Bull’s task difficult come the end of F1 2025.
While it was always likely that Hadjar would receive the call up to the senior team, Lawson’s recovery meant it wasn’t a clear call between retaining him or Yuki Tsunoda.
Earlier in the year, there would have been no question.
“Liam is a huge talent,” Permane insisted.
“As much as we talk about Isack a lot, we can see in the two most difficult qualifying sessions we’ve had this year is Las Vegas and Baku both, low downforce, both a little bit damp, or Vegas very, very damp, but Baku maybe even more difficult than Vegas because it was dry tyres, but a slippery track, and Liam’s nailed it both times.
“He’s absolutely got the talent,” he added.
“There’s definitely areas where he can improve, there’s no doubt about that, and he’s working hard on that, and we will work hard on him with that.”
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.
Read Next: The critical element Liam Lawson finally has in place