Can Lawson really put himself in the frame for an RBR return?

A great run to sixth place in Austria has put Liam Lawson back on the Red Bull map

It’s not been easy for Liam Lawson to bounce back from the blow of being demoted from Red Bull to Racing Bulls just two races into the 2025 Formula 1 season.

However, the subsequent struggle of Yuki Tsunoda to come to terms with the same car has given food for thought not just to the Red Bull camp, but the rest of the world as well.

In Austria the Kiwi was able to further swing opinion in his favour with a superb performance that saw him start and finish sixth as he logged the best result of his career to date.

There have been positive signs before, notably in Monaco, where he started ninth and finished eighth. However for the most part he’s been overshadowed by the less experienced Isack Hadjar, who has been consistently quick.

In Austria it didn’t work out for the Frenchman, who had to contend with an understeering car in Q2, and he was consigned to P13.

Lawson meanwhile was third in Q1 and ninth in Q2 before securing sixth. He was helped by the fact that others (notably Max Verstappen) didn’t get their final laps in due to a yellow flag, but that’s part of the game.

After qualifying Lawson admitted that the strategy choice wasn’t clear. In the end the team opted for a bold one-stop, which was matched only by Fernando Alonso.

It worked out well as they finished sixth and seventh, with Alonso helpfully protecting Lawson from a potential late attack by Gabriel Bortoleto on fresh tyres. Hadjar was in the points at one stage, but he faded after sustaining floor damage, putting even more of a focus on Lawson’s great performance.

“With today's temperatures, I was quite concerned, honestly,” he said when I asked about the one-stop.

“But the team knew, and I'm just very proud of their efforts. Not just this weekend, but the last few races, the car has been very quick, and we haven't been able to convert. So to do that this weekend is pretty cool.”

Lawson found keeping his tyres in good shape over two long stints easier than expected: “Honestly, not too bad. It's been a weird one this year with tyres, trying to get on top of them sometimes.

“On paper we came here this weekend pretty certain it was going to be a clear two-stop. And I think most people thought that as well.

“And after our numbers on Friday, we looked at the temperature today, and I was pretty concerned, honestly, with a one-stop, but the team knew, I don't know how, but very happy that they did.”

He was also grateful to have Alonso riding shotgun and keeping Bortoleto out of range.

“Gabriel was there with fresh tyres,” he noted. “Basically I could keep Fernando there just, but with somebody coming on quick on new tyres, I was quite concerned. So got a bit lucky that they finished a lap behind when I got a clean final lap to just cruise around.”

Luck doesn’t begin to describe his escape at Turn 3 on the first lap. Kimi Antonelli lost control while trying to avoid running into Lawson, and then missed him after hitting Verstappen.

Pictures show that the VCARB snuck through by the slenderest of margins - it really was a weekend when what could go wrong for Lawson went right instead.

"Obviously he was trying to avoid us all slowing down. But lap one at a hairpin like that everyone backs up a lot, and I know obviously it wasn't on purpose. So we were very lucky to survive.

“I thought I got hit, to be honest. I thought we were probably going to have damage, and the car was fine. So yeah, got lucky.”

Lawson certainly deserves a bit of good fortune. At a time when rumours are swirling about Verstappen’s future and with Tsunoda struggling it’s a good time for him to be getting attention, with an opportunity to return to RBR potentially opening up - something that seemed unlikely just a couple of months ago.

Logic suggests that if he no longer fits at Mercedes then George Russell will go to Red Bull, but if Tsunoda is out and a second seat is available, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko will look to Racing Bulls.

It’s now up to Lawson to show what he can do against Hadjar, who clearly has momentum on his side.

We are currently going through a run of tracks where neither driver has raced an F1 car before, and in theory Lawson should have an advantage from Zandvoort onwards, as he has sampled every venue except Azerbaijan. He really needs to make that count, and it’s in his hands.

“It's been an incredibly tough year, a very tough year with a lot of potential,” he noted. “I came into F1 last year and had a few races, and most of them converted very well.

“And sometimes you can have all the confidence and speed in the world, and they don't, and it's felt like that this year. So to finally have a result is amazing, but we need to obviously keep doing this as well.”

“I think Canada, we had really good speed in practice. Barcelona had good speed in practice, Monaco as well, and the result didn't convert.

“We've been pushing a lot with the car, and especially with our side of the garage, they've been doing a lot of work to make me comfortable, and we made some changes this weekend, and they've worked really, really well.

“We need to obviously keep pushing. But it's sometimes like that in F1, sometimes the speed and everything can be there, but there's a lot of variables in the sport, and they've worked for us this weekend.”

The good news is that the VCARB 02 has been pretty competitive everywhere while rivals have shown rollercoaster form, and thus it should be in the mix at Silverstone.

“It's another high-speed circuit,” he said. “And to be honest, it's felt pretty good this weekend, but it's just very close at the moment in F1.

“And you can start the weekend quite good, and within one session, other people make a small step, and you've lost your edge.

“So it's really about basically pushing every session and trying to improve the car, because half a tenth makes such a difference sometimes."