{"id":490723,"date":"2026-06-23T00:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T00:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/490723\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T00:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T00:54:21","slug":"lawson-details-online-abuse-crazy-justification-for-red-bull-axing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/490723\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawson details online abuse, ‘crazy’ justification for Red Bull axing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has opened up about the level of online abuse he received following his entrance to the sport and the “crazy” justification for his Red Bull exit. <\/p>\n

Lawson, who drives for Racing Bulls, appeared on the High Performance podcast, where he openly discussed his early career and experiences in Formula 1. <\/p>\n

Lawson was sensationally dropped as a Red Bull driver after just two races last year and demoted back to the Racing Bulls team.<\/p>\n

The Kiwi told the podcast he had been “very unprepared” for his promotion to Red Bull, with only half a day of testing before his first race for the new team.<\/p>\n

He said his demotion was “devastating” but he resolved to look on the bright side given he was still a Formula 1 driver and had the chance to develop his career.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Liam Lawson of New Zealand driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 03 RB Ford on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this stuff was happening, and there was nothing I could do about it once it had happened. I was obviously frustrated, devastated at the time, but there was nothing I could do about it any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawson was particularly annoyed at the “crazy” justification for dropping him.<\/p>\n

“The whole thing was played out to be me being mentally struggling and all this stuff, and like they were doing it to protect me. And that could honestly just not be further from what it was actually like.”<\/p>\n

He said there was \u201cso much\u201d narrative building in Formula 1, and \u201cyou start to just ignore it\u201d after a while. <\/p>\n

He said the hardest time during that period was the Chinese Grand Prix, where Lawson failed to score points across the weekend. However, he still did not expect to be dropped from the team. <\/p>\n

\u201cI already heard a couple of rumours around that weekend \u2013 there started to be a rumour about, OK, you know, Japanese Grand Prix is coming up, Yuki [Tsunoda] is Japanese. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s insane that they\u2019re even like saying that, classic F1 rumours, and I went back, and I just couldn\u2019t believe it.” <\/p>\n

‘The worst possible thing you could ever write’<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Liam Lawson at the Canadian Grand Prix. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

Lawson said he had stopped engaging with social media, which had made a \u201cbig difference\u201d in his life. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single Formula 1 account is muted so I don\u2019t see anything to do with it online.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lawson detailed the abuse he received following the Mexico City Grand Prix in 2024, where he came into contact with Red Bull\u2019s Sergio Perez as they battled for position. Lawson made an offensive gesture towards the Mexican driver as he overtook him.<\/p>\n

He said his phone was overwhelmed following the race with notifications and messages, some of them \u201cthe worst possible thing you could ever write.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it, the messages, comments on posts, the craziest stuff you could imagine people saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just not healthy to be reading and looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls has a seat fit in the garage during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on March 26, 2026 in Suzuka, Japan. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

He said abuse had become \u201cso much more normal\u201d both in and out of the sport, and \u201cyou can\u2019t escape it\u201d. <\/p>\n

Lawson said drivers were normal people who \u201cgenuinely love the support\u201d but wanted fans to back their favourites, not go after their rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to criticise other people.\u201d <\/p>\n

‘I’m now more grateful’<\/p>\n

The Kiwi said his career experiences had built his resilience, and left him in a \u201cmuch better position\u201d than when he arrived. <\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in today\u2019s Formula 1, with how much outside noise there is, really that\u2019s so much more an important part now.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be a good driver, to be basically good in Formula 1 right now, you have to be able to drive the car fast, you know, but everybody can, and it\u2019s all really that over stuff that you have to be, I think, resilient to. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think that\u2019s something that I\u2019m now more grateful for.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lawson currently sits 10th in the World Drivers Championship standings on 28 points. He has finished in the top 10 in his last three races. <\/p>\n

He’ll hit the track in Austria this weekend \u2013 where he has found a lot of success. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has opened up about the level of online abuse he received following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[238294,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-490723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-f1autoz26","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490723","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=490723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}