The New Zealander's path to a permanent F1 seat has been anything but linear. Lawson made sporadic substitute appearances for AlphaTauri/RB across 2023 and 2024, was promoted to the senior Red Bull seat at the start of 2025, then dropped back to Racing Bulls within just two rounds — one of the harshest mid-season demotions in recent F1 memory. He responded by closing out 2025 strongly enough to retain his seat into the new era.
Lawson now becomes Racing Bulls' senior driver alongside rookie Arvid Lindblad, and the dynamic is unusual: a driver who has already been to the senior team and back, mentoring a junior trying to make the same step. How he handles that role — and whether he can rebuild his Red Bull stock — is one of the more interesting subplots of the season.
Career Stats
Season by Season
| Year | Team | Pos | Points | Wins | Races | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | RB F1 Team | P10 | 8 | 0 | 4 | P7 |
| 2025 | RB F1 Team | P14 | 38 | 0 | 24 | P5 |
| 2024 | RB F1 Team | P21 | 4 | 0 | 6 | P9 |
| 2023 | AlphaTauri | P20 | 2 | 0 | 5 | P9 |