Liam Lawson reflects on strong Red Bull run after sixth in Madrid

So, Liam Lawson is walking away from Madrid with a sixth-place finish, marking his best result since making the switch from his Racing Bulls machine. That is right, the Kiwi has just wrapped up his third start for Red Bull after stepping in mid-season to replace the injured Isack Hadjar. It has been a wild turnaround, especially when you remember how his 2025 campaign started with just two races before a demotion back to Racing Bulls.

Here is the thing about this Madring street circuit: overtaking is brutally difficult. Lawson managed to pull off a risky pass on Franco Colapinto early on, describing it as fun even if he nearly missed the corner and had to worry about track limits. He started on the hard tyre, but the intervention of a Virtual Safety Car completely washed away the advantage of that early move since his rivals pitted anyway. A late pit stop ultimately sealed his second points finish with Red Bull, following a seventh-place result in the Netherlands.

"Hard to overtake is really the biggest thing. We started on the hard as well and with the Virtual Safety Car, it didn't really help us," Lawson told F1 TV.

Before this temporary promotion back to the senior squad, Lawson had already put together a solid run of points in eight out of 11 races earlier in the year, earning him another shot. Now, looking back at his recent outings, he is quietly proud of how he has handled the machine.

"I think so," Lawson said when asked if he was proud of his performances with Red Bull so far. "I've just tried to maximise each weekend. Honestly, a lot of things coming into it were just driver specific that I knew were going to be challenging about this car, and just really tried to prepare as much as I could but it's been a very busy few weeks to be honest."

As for the garage next door, Hadjar was actually spotted in the Madrid paddock over the weekend, though his timeline to return from a wrist injury sustained over the summer break remains unknown. With Baku looming as the next race in two weeks, Lawson is bracing for more chaos. He admitted he will likely spend the upcoming week doing preparation for both cars again, noting he would have loved to score points in Monza as well, but ultimately concluding that it has been a strong three weekends overall.