Has Lawson’s Racing Bulls F1 return been as bad as it seems?

“Fairly stunning.” That’s how Liam Lawson assesses his outcomes, 4 grands prix into his latest stint as a Racing Bulls driver, following his demotion from Purple Bull.

“Now we have no factors,” Lawson stated matter-of-factly after one other forgettable race in Miami. “Clearly Formulation 1 is plenty of variables and to place a full race collectively might be fairly robust. The velocity’s been there for many of it, simply sadly it hasn’t labored out for us up to now.”

Clearly, public opinion considers Isack Hadjar to be essentially the most spectacular of the Racing Bulls drivers in 2025. The French rookie has constantly fought for factors up to now, and he has outqualified Lawson 4-1 (dash qualifying included) – however the New Zealander was twice hindered by technical points, along with his DRS and battery inflicting issues in Bahrain and Miami respectively.

Statistics could be circled relying on the standpoint, and one might argue that over the 2 common (i.e. non-sprint) qualifying periods the place Lawson was trouble-free, he truly has a 0.048s benefit on Hadjar.

Nonetheless, it is a downside. Hadjar’s common grid place (for grand prix races) is 11, whereas Lawson’s is 14.5. This considerably hinders his possibilities to attain factors on Sundays.

The uneventful Japanese Grand Prix was robust for Lawson, who dropped from thirteenth to 14th initially and ultimately took the checkered flag in seventeenth – undercut by Jack Doohan and Nico Hulkenberg, and overtaken by Carlos Sainz. In the meantime, Hadjar achieved an excellent eighth-place end.

Tempo was higher in Bahrain, however Lawson picked up two penalties for contact with Lance Stroll and Hulkenberg, which dropped him from a possible thirteenth place – proper forward of Hadjar – to sixteenth.

Come Saudi, Lawson led Hadjar on the grid for the primary time, however misplaced out within the chaos of the primary lap; he had a couple of overtakes to make for his medium/laborious technique to work, however a 10-second penalty for overtaking Jack Doohan off the monitor at Flip 2 dropped him from eleventh to twelfth, whereas Hadjar scored some extent.

Lastly, in Miami, a racing incident – with Doohan once more – initially noticed Lawson spin, damaging his Racing Bulls and his possibilities of scoring factors, with the New Zealander describing his crippled automotive as “fairly horrendous”.

Lawson was jaded after one other robust race, however the image arguably appears to be like worse than his precise efficiency has been; whereas there may be little consultant information to contemplate up to now, every little thing appears to level to a comparatively balanced efficiency degree in comparison with Hadjar.

“Consolation-wise I really feel actually good within the automotive,” Lawson assessed. “Velocity’s been fairly good most locations, simply sadly no outcomes to point out for it.”

So what’s the best way ahead? “Reset, like at all times. That is how now we have to be within the sport. Hold working ahead, maintain bettering issues.

“I do not suppose something actually adjustments. I feel our strategy to the weekend’s been actually, actually good. As I stated, the automotive was quick this weekend, so it’s going to click on ultimately.”

All Lawson wants could also be to steer clear of collisions and penalties.