Liam Lawson is a racing driver who was born in Hastings, New Zealand on 11 February 2002.

The Kiwi was forced to be patient for his Formula 1 breakthrough as a member of the Red Bull fold, but once it arrived, Lawson found himself progressing to the senior team with just 11 grands prix of experience to his name, although that senior call-up did not last long.

Carriera

Having served as reserve driver for the Red Bull teams for a season-and-a-half - his impressive results in Formula 2, DTM and Super Formula initially not enough to trigger that F1 breakthrough - opportunity knocked for Lawson in a major way when Daniel Ricciardo was sidelined at AlphaTauri following a crash in practice for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.

Ricciardo sustained a broken hand in the incident with Lawson called-up to compete in his place, the rookie turning heads in an impressive five-race stint which included scoring his first F1 points with P9 at the Singapore Grand Prix, regarded as one of the most physically demanding races on the Formula 1 calendar.

Nonetheless, with Ricciardo returning to action as of the United States GP, Red Bull opted for the Aussie to remain in a drive with their junior team over Lawson for 2024.

But, Lawson's return to the Red Bull reserve role was temporary, as that year's Singapore GP proved to be Ricciardo's final race with the B-team, as Lawson was brought back in with the task of forcing his way into Red Bull's F1 2025 plans.

Lawson was on a mission and was not afraid to irk F1 veterans Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez along the way - including giving Perez the middle finger at his home race in Mexico - Lawson scoring points in Austin and Sao Paulo to finish the season with four points from six grands prix.

A VCARB seat looked very much within reach, but Perez's alarming struggles meant rumours of a Red Bull drive for Lawson in F1 2025 also appeared.

And as Perez confirmed his departure from the team, Lawson was duly named as the new Red Bull team-mate to Max Verstappen.

But, Lawson lasted just two grands prix before being sent back to VCARB, replaced by former team-mate Yuki Tsunoda after failing to score points or escape Q1 in Australia and China.

Storia

After a successful career on the New Zealand karting and single-seater scene, Lawson made a successful transition to Europe with a runner-up finish in the 2018 ADAC Formula 4 Championship, graduating to Formula 3 and finishing P5 in the standings in his second season.

Alongside his F3 endeavours, Lawson also claimed the Toyota Racing Series title in 2019 and finished runner-up in the series the following year.

Lawson went on to spend two seasons in Formula 2, finishing P3 in the 2022 Championship, while he continued to add experience in other categories to his CV, impressing in DTM and Super Formula.

His 2021 DTM campaign ended on a heartbreaking and controversial note, as a first-lap collision with Kelvin van der Linde at the season finale and subsequent Mercedes team orders heavily contributed to Maximilian Götz winning the title over Lawson.

Lawson may be at a very early stage in his Formula 1 career, but his reported net worth already comes in at a rather handsome $1.5 million.

The Kiwi's earnings will be boosted by the various sponsorship deals he enjoys with Red Bull Racing, Rodin Cars, Giltrap Group, Turners, Porter Group, BGW Wheels, Bell Helmets and the Tony Quinn Foundation.

Liam Lawson grew up in a family of six. His father is Jared Lawson and mother Kristy Lawson, while he has three sisters, Jessica, Holly and Leah Lawson.

And he has never shied away from expressing gratitude to his family when it comes to his racing career, with his parents even selling their house, while his sisters gave up their Irish dancing careers, in order to fund his racing journey.