Liam Lawson expressed in the Hungarian GP press conference that despite some strong results so far, he wants to be consistently maximising performance every week for the team.
After a points finish in Spa-Francorchamps, new Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane described the New Zealander as having a ‘near perfect’ race. In the Friday press conference for the Hungarian GP, Liam Lawson stated that it didn’t feel that way inside the cockpit, but admitted the pace is there for him in the car.
“Probably not [near perfect], to be honest. It’s always tricky in those conditions when it’s changing. In the car it felt like it was still quite wet when everyone was putting on slicks. We were actually one of the early cars to do it.
“If they’d asked me if I thought it was ready, I probably would have said no. Those races are very tricky to judge. For us, we were able to capitalise.
“In general, the car has been quick recently. On most tracks we’ve been to, practice has been quite strong and I feel like we’ve started in a good place and not had too much to work on. It’s just very close right now. Even in Spa, I couldn’t believe that over a nearly two-minute lap, for teams to be within one tenth in qualifying, it’s very close.”
“I think Austria was a more complete weekend in terms of qualifying was maximized, race was maximized. I don’t think we could have achieved too much more.
“In Spa the car was quick, qualifying wasn’t perfect, and going into the race we were able to capitalize. It’s just been more consistent recently. There needs to be more, because to have two good races like that in 12 races is not enough. We need to be doing it nearly every weekend if that’s the target.”
‘In a better place’ after a tough start to the year
Lawson started the 2025 season in the second Red Bull seat, completing just two races before being demoted to their junior team. Since joining Racing Bulls, the Kiwi has scored 16 points from 3 points finishes. When asked to reflect on his season so far, Lawson described it as a ‘whirlwind’, but feels that it has stabilised now and the focus is on extracting the most from the car both this weekend at the Hungarian GP and for the rest of the season.
“It’s been busy. It’s been a whirlwind, especially at the start of the year. Very unexpected, and what was probably a rocky start has now stabilised and we’re in a better place.
“The speed’s been there most of the year, and it’s nice that we’re finally able to get a couple of good results. As a whole, we need to be doing that more. To have two or three of those races over the first half of the season is not enough. Going forward into the second half of the year, we’re trying to replicate this more.
“Right now, with how close it is, it’s the little things that make a big difference. Trying to extract everything each weekend.”
