failed to launch successfully off the start line<\/a> and slipped from 8th on the grid to finish 13th.<\/p>\nSince then he finished seventh in both the sprint and GP in China and ninth in Japan.<\/p>\n
However he remains concerned.<\/p>\n
“I think, to be honest, we haven’t actually been that fast, but still managed to come away with three points finishes,” he said following Japan.<\/p>\n
“So I think it’s when we get a really quick car, we’ll obviously be in a much better place. And if we keep making the decisions we’re making, I think it’s quite exciting.”<\/p>\n
Lawson and the rest of the F1 grid are currently on a break following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix because of the conflict in Iran.<\/p>\n
Lawson has spent some of his off-time playing golf in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
The five week break before the Miami Grand Prix does allow teams time to continue to develop their cars.<\/p>\n
![\"Liam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4KFIGW0_SI202412080111_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nLiam Lawson and Max Verstappen in 2024.
\nPhoto: Getty Images \/ Red Bull Content Pool \/ PHOTOSPORT\n<\/p>\n
Suggestion Lawson could be promoted back to Red Bull a bad idea<\/p>\n
Former F1 driver turned commentator Jolyon Palmer doesn’t believe Lawson would be the right fit for a return to the Red Bull team if Max Verstappen was to leave.<\/p>\n
Verstappen has raised doubts about his future as he struggles for results in 2026, while members of his set-up are leaving the once dominant team.<\/p>\n
The NZ Herald reported that team principal Laurent Mekies was under pressure to make sure the Red Bull stable of drivers would be used if the Dutch four-time world champion was to leave.<\/p>\n
However Palmer believes promoting Lawson or Arvid Lindblad to join Isack Hadjar would not be wise.<\/p>\n
“I think, to partner Hadjar with Lawson or Lindblad leaves them too inexperienced. I think they have to import some experience to help bolster Hadjar, if nothing else.”<\/p>\n
The Miami Grand Prix is on 3 May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liam Lawson of Visa Cash App RB F1 Team VCARB03. Photo: Eric Alonso \/ PHOTOSPORT Liam Lawson remains…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-378156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Liam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JR12C0_cap_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n