Liam Lawson’s Challenges in the New Season with Racing Bulls

Liam Lawson, a new Racing Bulls driver, finds himself grappling with a tough start to his tenure, four races into the 2025 season. “Pretty shocking” is how he describes his results, following his demotion from Red Bull.

Comparison with Isack Hadjar: The Standout Rookie

While public opinion favors Isack Hadjar as the most impressive Racing Bulls driver this year, Liam Lawson has faced a series of setbacks. Despite consistently fighting for points, Hadjar has outqualified Lawson 4-1 (including sprint qualifying). Unfortunately, technical issues have hindered Lawson’s performance, with his DRS and battery causing problems in Bahrain and Miami respectively.

However, if we consider the two regular qualifying sessions where Lawson was trouble-free, he actually has a 0.048s advantage on Hadjar.

Performance Analysis and Grid Positions

Despite these promising moments, Lawson’s average grid position (for grand prix races) is 14.5, significantly hindering his chances to score points on Sundays. In contrast, Hadjar’s average grid position is 11.

The uneventful Japanese Grand Prix was particularly tough for Lawson, who dropped from 13th to 14th at the start and eventually finished in 17th. Meanwhile, Hadjar achieved a brilliant eighth-place finish.

Incidents and Penalties: A Recurring Issue

Lawson’s pace was better in Bahrain, but two penalties for contact with Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg dropped him from a potential 13th position – ahead of Hadjar – to 16th.

In Saudi, Lawson led Hadjar on the grid for the first time, but lost out in the chaos of the first lap. A 10-second penalty for overtaking Jack Doohan off the track at Turn 2 dropped him from 11th to 12th, while Hadjar scored a point.

Miami and Another Setback

Finally, in Miami, a racing incident with Doohan again saw Lawson spin, damaging his Racing Bulls and his chances of scoring points. Lawson described his crippled car as “pretty horrendous”.

After another tough race, the picture looks bleak for Lawson, but his actual performance may not be as poor as it seems. While there is little representative data to consider so far, everything seems to point to a relatively balanced performance level compared to Hadjar.

The Way Forward: Staying Ahead of Incidents and Penalties

Reset, like always. That’s how we have to be in the sport. Keep working forward, keep improving things.” Lawson remains optimistic, believing their approach to the weekend has been good, and that their car was fast this weekend. He hopes for a click eventually. All Lawson needs may be to stay away from collisions and penalties.