Confidence intact after Red Bull nightmare – Lawson

Apr.18 (GMM) Liam Lawson insists his confidence is not in tatters after his experience at Red Bull.

The team overlooked Yuki Tsunoda late last year to instead sign up Lawson for the 2025 season. But Lawson struggled so badly alongside Max Verstappen that he was swapped out for Tsunoda after just two races.

Although a significant gap to Verstappen still exists, the team is happy with Tsunoda and Dr Helmut Marko says the Japanese driver will remain in the car all season.

“I’m happy with how I progressed in the last two races,” Tsunoda said in Saudi Arabia. “It has gone slightly better than I thought, probably.

“The confidence is there. Not 100 percent perfect, but it’s there.”

It is well known that the Racing Bulls car – Lawson’s new seat – is easier to drive, set up, and manage the tyres, helping to rebuild the New Zealander’s confidence after the Red Bull Racing experience.

However, the 23-year-old insists that his confidence did not even take a knock.

“If we’re talking about confidence, nothing has changed since the start of the year,” Lawson said. “I wasn’t at Red Bull Racing long enough to look back on my performance in two races and think that because of the car issues I’ve forgotten how to drive.

“Nothing of the sort,” he added. “It was a very bad two weekends at Red Bull, and there were a lot of factors that contributed to that. But my confidence hasn’t changed.”