Liam Lawson has dismissed “false” claims that his confidence was damaged after Red Bull switched him with Yuki Tsunoda after just two Formula 1 races in 2025.
The Kiwi was chosen to fill the void left by Sergio Perez for the current season, having impressed across two late-season stints with satellite side Racing Bulls.
But Lawson struggled in the RB21, retiring from the opening round in Australia, and then finishing a disappointing 12th in China.
Despite such a brief period, Red Bull decided they had seen enough and sent him back to the Faenza-based squad with Tsunoda coming the other way.
Although yet to match new team-mate Isack Hadjar in terms of results, Lawson has found some improvement in form, finishing eighth in Monaco, and sixth in Austria.
In an interview with the F1 website, Lawson rebuffed any idea that his confidence was affected by the saga, saying his mindset upon returning to Racing Bulls was no different.
“I think I would say one thing to be clear about is that between the first couple of races, to the team switch, then going to Japan, mentally for me nothing changed,” he said.
“It’s been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false.
“From the start of the year, I felt the same as I always have.
“I think in two races, on tracks I’d never been to, it’s not really enough for my confidence… maybe six months into a season, if I’m still at that level, if the results are still like that, then I’d be feeling something – maybe my confidence would be taking a hit.
“I was well aware that those results weren’t good enough, but I was just focused on improving, fixing and learning, basically. I was in the same mindset as I have been since I came into F1.”
Lawson: Adapting to Red Bull was ‘going to take a bit of time’
Lawson had a myriad of other factors to contend with, such as the opening rounds being on circuits he hadn’t previously driven.
He claims that, on top of this, there was the need for a longer timeframe of adapting to a new team, as well as difficulties encountered in pre-season testing and the RB21, which has comparatively been Red Bull’s least competitive car for some years.
He also had to combat other issues, such as racing on circuits he had yet to race on before.
“I think that was the biggest thing going into a team like that, in a car like that… it was going to take a bit of time to adjust and learn,” he addressed.
“With no proper testing, the issues in testing, the issues in Melbourne through practice… it wasn’t smooth and clean. I needed time, and I wasn’t given it.”
He adds: “I haven’t really talked much about it, because I think for a big part of this year, I’ve just ignored everything that happened, and I’ve just focused on trying to drive the car – but I know there was a lot of stuff that went out that was speculation about how I was feeling.
“My confidence hasn’t changed since the start of the year to now.”
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