However, 2025 wasn’t as kind.
Returning to Singapore, Lawson’s weekend was blighted by hitting the wall in the second practice session, and then again in the third, leaving him shy of crucial time on track come qualifying.
As a result, the Kiwi could only qualify 14th, before a strategy gamble didn’t pay off, seeing him come home 15th after the 61-lap affair.
Liam Lawson for AlphaTauri at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull
This year, though, Lawson returns in a much stronger position. With seventh-place in Malaysia last week, the Kiwi comfortably sits ninth in the world drivers championship.
His 65 points are 24 clear of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in 10th, in the race to be crowned “best of the rest” – the highest-placed driver outside the top four teams, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.
On top of that, 51 of those points have come for Racing Bulls, and have the team clear of Alpine in the estimated $180 million battle for fifth in the constructors championship, at a time where his future is still to be confirmed.
And given this weekend is a sprint race, shortening the structure from three practice sessions down to one, Lawson wants to continue where he left off at Sepang.
“It’s a really good track,” he said. “With sprint weekends, you get two shots at everything.
“We’ve recently started the weekends quite strong, now it feels like everyone else has caught up. Hopefully we can start strong here.
“But it’s just a sick track, [it’s] really, really cool. And it’s a night race as well – I’m excited.”
Liam Lawson after the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull
Potentially throwing the weekend more into Lawson’s favour, heavy rain is forecast for Monday morning’s race.
Last week, despite a 90-minute delay, Racing Bulls showed that their car is more than capable in the wet – not just through Lawson taking seventh, but by teammate Arvid Lindblad going from last to 10th over the course of the race.
In particular, a call from Racing Bulls to start both drivers on intermediate tyres paid off, as other teams gambled with slicks on a damp track.
As a result, Lawson had what he’s described as “the best start” of his Formula One career, and even found himself fighting with Verstappen for third place into turn one.
With Singapore being a street race, overtaking can tend to be at a premium once the lights go out. If Lawson gets his way, though, a wet race would change the equation completely.
“Here, specifically, [rain] would be definitely interesting,” Lawson continued. “It would be cool to have more wet races through the year. We haven’t really raced in the wet since last year.”
The weekend’s only practice session begins at 9.30pm NZT on Friday, before sprint qualifying at 1.30am NZT on Saturday.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.