The almost unanimous view in the Formula One paddock is that Liam Lawson has done more than enough to warrant another season driving for the Racing Bulls. The New Zealand driver has been the latest to suffer at the hands of the ruthless Red Bull treatment of its drivers.
Having been somewhat surprisingly promoted alongside Max Verstappen at the start of the 2025 season, Lawson was dropped back to the Racing Bulls after just the first two rounds. The team then made the appointment most believed should have been their first choice, with Yuki Tsunoda taking the second Red Bull seat for the rest of the year.
Even worse was to come for Lawson, who failed to compete with his rookie teammate Isack Hadjar. The French driver finished the season strongly with 51 points, while Lawson was two places further back in the drivers’ standings, claiming just 38 points.
Lawson’s career was saved when Red Bull promoted Hadjar for this year to drive alongside Max Verstappen. In coming to the Racing Bulls was rookie Arvid Lindblad, meaning Lawson’s experience was valuable to the team even if just for another year.
Lawson’s Resurgence in 2026
Yet this year Liam has finally produced the results that Dr. Helmut Marko believed he was capable of whilst in the Red Bull junior racing programme. He has claimed points in 13 of the 18 rounds to date, with one of the occasions he failed to do so being due to mechanical issues and a DNF in Miami.
Lawson is the best of the rest outside the drivers from the top four teams and currently has racked up 77 points, just 28 points behind Isack Hadjar. Further, the New Zealand driver is 35 points ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who rounds out the top ten.
FP2 Clash and Grid Penalties for Red Bull Drivers
Waiting for confirmation of his drive for 2027, Lawson has no intention of backing down in any on-track confrontation.During the second practice in Mexico, he found himself on the same piece of asphalt as Max Verstappen as the drivers came together.
The clash occurred in the early stages of FP2 when Verstappen attempted an overtake on Lawson into Turn 12. Lawson tried to contest the position through the stadium section, and as Verstappen bounced over a kerb on the exit, he rejoined alongside Lawson. The two cars came together, damaging the floor of Verstappen’s Red Bull and the front wing of Lawson’s Racing Bulls car.
The incident happened early in the session, leaving Verstappen compromised for the remainder of free practice two. The pair were called to the stewards and issued with a one-place grid drop each, together with a penalty point accrued on their racing licences.
The incident forced race control to red flag the session while the debris was removed, which is why the stewards came down relatively hard on the pair. Verstappen was irritated with his former teammate and issued a warning to the Racing Bulls driver. “At the end of the day it is not going to change my weekend, but if I were him I would act a little smarter.When you’re fighting for your seat, it’s not very smart behaviour… to pick a fight with me.”
Isack Hadjar Summoned Over Paddock Incident
Another Red Bull driver was hauled in front of the stewards, with Isack Hadjar being accused of pushing a fan in the paddock. The FIA summons stated: “Alleged breach of Article 12.2.1.l of the FIA International Sporting Code – Misconduct”.
Having suffered a power unit issue in the session meaning he completed just 21 laps, Hadjar was marching back towards the Red Bull hospitality area. His demeanour made it clear that he didn’t want to engage with anyone, but despite this, a fan ran alongside him trying to take a selfie.
Hadjar brushed him aside, but refusing to be deterred, the fan grabbed hold of Hadjar around the waist, to which the French driver took great exception, shoving him away. He faced the stewards on Saturday morning to decide his fate.Hadjar fared better in FP2, finishing the session in P6, just 0.4s behind timesheet-topping Charles Leclerc.
Paddock Overcrowding and Driver Security
After an absence between 1993 and 2015, the Mexican Grand Prix returned to the F1 calendar in 2015. During the 1990s,the circuit was way outside the city limits, but in the intervening two decades, the track has been swallowed up and is now inside the suburbs. Being an old design, the paddock at the Autodromo is particularly tight, with little room to improve and expand.
Yet even at the more modern circuits which have generous paddock space, the issue of overcrowding is becoming more problematic. F1 is selling an ever-increasing number of super-premium hospitality packages, which means fans are allowed in their hordes to roam the areas that were once more private for the drivers.
Max Verstappen raised the matter in Singapore. Speaking to Dutch publication De Telegraaf, the Red Bull driver revealed he has changed his routine due to the crowds. “It is often no longer possible to have a chat with someone. That’s not really possible anymore. So I mainly live from my room to the garage and the pit lane.
“Even in our own hospitality rooms, there are many guests who want something from you. Of course they mean well, but I also need to be able to rest without being bothered all the time. I know it’s part of it. And that, the more you perform and the more you’ve achieved, the more people want you to be. In that respect, it is also a good thing.”
Montoya Weighs In on the Verstappen-Lawson Incident
Meanwhile, ex-F1 racer Juan Pablo Montoya has expressed his view over the Verstappen/Lawson incident, stating, “I would’ve put Liam Lawson in the barrier” if he had found himself in Max Verstappen’s position.
“I look at that and I understand that Liam felt that it was a late lunge, that it was a necessary late lunge, and he still made the corner,” the Colombian racer told F1 TV. “And Max stayed there anyway, so he said, ‘You’re going to stay there, then I’m going to drive you off the track.’
“Liam went deep and used the whole track, then Max said, ‘I’m going to cut the track and run over you’.” Despite Verstappen claiming the grid drop would not affect his race weekend, three of the last four Grands Prix at the Autodromo have been won from pole—something now out of Verstappen’s reach.
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The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
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