Liam Jared Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand racing driver who competes in Formula One for Racing Bulls.
Born in Hastings and raised in Pukekohe, Lawson began competitive kart racing aged six. Lawson, who is mentored by three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner Ken Smith, graduated to junior formulae in 2015, winning his first title in the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship as a privateer. He finished runner-up in the 2017 Australian F4, 2018 ADAC F4 and 2019 Euroformula Open championships, before winning the Toyota Racing Series in 2019 with M2. Lawson then progressed to FIA Formula 3 in before moving to FIA Formula 2 in 2021, where he placed third the following season with Carlin. He also competed in the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Red Bull AF Corse alongside Alex Albon, finishing runner-up to Maximilian Götz amidst a controversial finale. Lawson then competed in the 2023 Super Formula Championship, finishing runner-up to Ritomo Miyata with Mugen.
A member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2019, Lawson was a reserve driver for both Red Bull and AlphaTauri from to . Lawson made his Formula One debut at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, replacing an injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri for five Grands Prix in , scoring his maiden points finish in Singapore. He replaced Ricciardo full-time at the re-branded Racing Bulls in from the onwards. Lawson was promoted to a full-time drive with parent team Red Bull for his campaign—replacing Sergio Pérez to partner Max Verstappen—but was demoted after the second round. Lawson is contracted to remain at Racing Bulls until at least the end of the 2026 season.
Early and personal life Liam Jared Lawson was born on 11 February 2002 in Hastings, New Zealand. He was raised in Pukekohe, which was home to Pukekohe Park Raceway, located in the Auckland Region of the North Island. His parents sold their house to fund his racing career.
Lawson selected the number 30 as his personal driver number in Formula One, which he had used since age eight in honour of his karting mentor. He plays the guitar and has recorded music. He went to the same school in Waiau Pa with Supercars driver Matt Payne.
Junior racing career Karting Lawson began karting in 2008, competing in numerous championships across New Zealand, including two karting titles in 2014. Each year, he returned to the Kartsport Auckland Go Kart Club on Rosebank Road, Avondale and competed in the big City of Sails race on Auckland Anniversary Weekend.
Lower formulae In 2015, Lawson made his single-seater debut in the Formula First Manfeild Winter Series with Sabre Motorsport, taking a win and ten podiums to finish second overall. A few months later, he joined Sabre to contest the NZ Formula First championship, taking a win and three podiums on his way to sixth in the championship and the Rookie of the Year title. The following year, Lawson graduated to the NZ F1600 Championship Series. There he dominated proceedings, claiming fourteen of the fifteen victories on offer to become the youngest champion in not just the series' history, but the youngest ever Formula Ford champion in world at the time.
In 2017, Lawson moved up to the Australian F4 championship with BRM, taking five wins to finish second in only his rookie season. The following year, Lawson remained at Formula 4 level, moving across to contest the ADAC Formula 4 championship with Van Amersfoort Racing and received backing from Turner's, the New Zealand used car network that had previously sponsored IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. Claiming three wins and three pole positions, Lawson's performances saw him claim his second consecutive F4 runner up position, behind Lirim Zendeli.
Toyota Racing Series In November 2018, Lawson joined M2 Competition for the 2019 championship. Lawson dominated on debut at Highlands, taking two races wins by over nine-seconds each and won the Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy as a result of winning Race 3. Claiming three additional wins across the season, Lawson secured the title at the New Zealand Grand Prix after a season long battle with Ferrari junior and fellow countryman Marcus Armstrong.
Euroformula Open Championship Lawson had been set to join the inaugural season of the Formula European Masters with Motopark, alongside fellow Red Bull Junior Yuki Tsunoda, but followed the German outfit to the Euroformula Open Championship when Formula European Masters was cancelled due to a lack of entrants. Lawson won the opening races at Paul Ricard, and also in Pau. He would go on to take two more victories to become runner-up to Marino Sato. He did however, win the rookies' championship.
International Formula 3 In November 2018, Lawson competed in the season finale of the Asian F3 championship with Irish outfit Pinnacle Motorsport. He proceeded to dominate the weekend, taking all wins, fastest laps and pole positions on offer to finish eighth in the championship.
FIA Formula 3 Championship 2019
In March 2019, Lawson joined MP Motorsport to contest the inaugural FIA Formula 3 Championship, alongside Richard Verschoor and Simo Laaksonen. His debut at Barcelona proved challenging, qualifying lowest of the MP Motorsport drivers and retired from Race 1 due to a throttle motor failure. Improvement followed in Paul Ricard, where he scored his first points with ninth place in Race 1 and further advanced to fifth in Race 2. After failing to score in Austria, he rebounded in Silverstone and held the lead for half of the race before being overtaken by Leonardo Pulcini and Robert Shwartzman, eventually securing third place. The result marked both Lawson's and MP Motorsport's first podium of the season. Lawson endured scoreless rounds in Hungary and Spa-Francorchamps before returning to form in Monza. After qualifying thirteenth, he progressed to seventh in Race 1, giving him a front row start in Race 2. Although he dropped positions at the start, Lawson recovered and passed Fabio Scherer and Jake Hughes to finish second behind Yuki Tsunoda, earning his second podium. In the final round in Sochi, Lawson made up ten positions in Race 2 to finish eighth, after overtaking Max Fewtrell and Christian Lundgaard on the last lap. Overall, Lawson concluded the season eleventh in the championship with 41 points, scoring both of the team's podium finishes.
Macau Grand Prix Just two weeks after the final round, Lawson was announced to compete at that year's Macau Grand Prix, remaining with MP Motorsport. Lawson qualified fifteenth, but in the qualification race slipped back to twentieth, before eventually coming through to finish seventh.
2020 Lawson moved to Hitech Grand Prix for the season, partnering Max Fewtrell and Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger. He opened the season in Austria by qualifying twelfth and improving to sixth in the first race. and charged to sixth. In Race 2, Lawson climbed to third before overtaking Clément Novalak and David Beckmann to move into the race lead. He resisted late-race pressure from former teammate Richard Verschoor to secure his maiden Formula 3 victory. During the second Austrian round, Lawson qualified tenth and finished eighth place in wet conditions in Race 1. Starting third in Race 2, he moved into the lead after passing Jake Hughes and Théo Pourchaire. A prolonged battle ultimately ended in a collision between the pair on lap 21, resulting in a double retirement which handed the win to Pourchaire. Lawson endured a difficult weekend in Hungary, retiring from both races due to mechanical failures.
From Silverstone onwards, Lawson scored points in every remaining race of the season. There, he narrowly missed out on pole position, but overtook polesitter Logan Sargeant on the opening lap to claim his second win of the year. He added a seventh place in Race 2. During the second Silverstone round, Lawson again qualified second and finished third in the opening race, before narrowly missing a podium in Race 2 after running wide while battling Pourchaire. In Barcelona, Lawson qualified third despite an engine issue compromising his pole position attempt. He finished second in Race 1 after overtaking Sargeant late on; followed by seventh in Race 2, which elevated him to third in the championship standings.
In Spa-Francorchamps, Lawson finished seventh in Race 1 and recovered to third in Race 2 after losing positions at the start. Lawson initially qualified fourth in Monza. Lawson inherited pole position in Monza following post-qualifying penalties. Damage sustained in early contact with Matteo Nannini limited him to sixth in Race 1. In Race 2, he finished second on the road after briefly leading, but a post-race penalty for forcing another driver off-track dropped him to seventh. He concluded his season in Mugello, by finishing tenth in the first race, before dominating Race 2 to secure his third victory of the season. Lawson finished fifth in the championship with 143 points, recording three wins and six podiums throughout the season.
Road to Indy In December 2017, Lawson partook in the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout, finishing as the fastest driver but losing out on the scholarship to Ireland's Keith Donegan.
FIA Formula 2 Championship 2021 In January 2021, Lawson was announced to be competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix alongside Jüri Vips. Lawson qualified eighth on his debut in Bahrain. In the opening sprint race, he made a strong start to take the lead and successfully defended against late pressure from Jehan Daruvala to secure his maiden win on debut. His fortunes were reversed in the second sprint however, as Lawson was taken out by Felipe Drugovich in a three-way scrap for third place. Nevertheless, he redeemed himself with third place in the feature after a pass on Richard Verschoor on the last lap. Lawson ended the opening round second in the championship. In Monaco, Lawson qualified twelfth and finished ninth in the first sprint race. He started the second sprint from pole position after Marcus Armstrong was unable to take the grid. After briefly losing the lead, Lawson reclaimed first place with an overtake on Oscar Piastri at Rascasse and went on to take the chequered flag in first. However, he was later disqualified for using a prohibited throttle map, handing victory to Dan Ticktum. He later described his disqualification as "hard to swallow". He finished seventh in the feature race.
Lawson claimed his maiden pole position in Baku, forming a front row for Hitech. His opening sprint race ended early after contact with Piastri broke his suspension, but recovered to finish seventh in the second sprint despite a power loss. In the feature race, an aggressive defence on Théo Pourchaire during the opening lap earned Lawson a ten-second penalty; he eventually finished sixth. In Silverstone, Lawson qualified eleventh and scored points in both sprint races, finishing seventh and fifth respectively. He placed just outside the points in the feature race. In Monza, Lawson qualified fourth but front wing damage forced him into a pit stop early during the opening sprint race; he managed to recover to fifth. He finished fourth in the second sprint and ran as high as second in the feature race before retiring due to a power issue. Lawson qualified eighth in Sochi, but retired from the first sprint after damaging his suspension while running third. Lawson finished seventh in the feature race after a slow start.