Liam Lawson Returns to Racing Bulls for Baku After Red Bull Stint
Liam Lawson’s brief, sharp burst in Red Bull colours is over. The New Zealander is heading back to familiar territory at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, his super-sub stint complete and his stock noticeably higher.
The 24-year-old was drafted into the senior team in August, thrown into the deep end as cover for Isack Hadjar after the French-Algerian picked up a wrist injury over the summer break. No long build-up, no gentle easing in. Just three races, a top-tier car and a clear mandate: deliver.
He did.
Fourteen points from three starts is a tidy return in any context. For Lawson, it marked a sharp contrast to his last spell with Red Bull, when he was shuffled out after only two races in 2025. This time, he left a mark.
Red Bull confirmed Hadjar’s return in a statement ahead of the Baku weekend, closing the door on Lawson’s latest cameo at the front of the grid.
“The team would like to sincerely thank Liam for his professionalism, dedication and hard work over the past three races,” the statement read. “Stepping in under challenging circumstances, he delivered some impressive performances and made a valuable contribution to the team.
“We wish him all the best as he returns to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.”
So the senior seat goes back to its original owner. Lawson, though, doesn’t head down the paddock as a demoted driver, but as one who has just reminded everyone what he can do in a front-running car.
Back with Racing Bulls, he drops into a season that has quietly become a redemption campaign after a chaotic 2025. Ninth in the drivers’ standings, regularly at the sharp end of the midfield and banking points with a consistency that eluded him last year, he returns to a car and a crew that already fit.
“It feels great to be back in my car alongside the team as we head to Baku,” Lawson said. “It has been a busy few weeks with the switch to Red Bull Racing, and I'm looking forward to getting back into the rhythm with the team and focusing on the weekend ahead.”
The rhythm he talks about is real. His three-race stint didn’t just keep Red Bull afloat; it underlined how much he’s grown since those bruising early outings in 2025.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies did not hide his appreciation after Lawson’s sixth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix, a drive that typified his calm execution under pressure.
“I think he's done a very good job,” Mekies said. “I think we all know how difficult it is to jump to a different team, to a different car, and I think that he has done that to the best of what could have been our expectations.
“He has taken some very important points today with the P6. He did the same in Zandvoort and in Monza he would have done something similar without the contact with Nico [Hulkenberg] and the front wing damage.
“So, I think he did a very good job, again very different pictures compared to the first two races of 2025 when he was in the team so we are thankful and happy with that.”
Those “different pictures” are what matter now. Lawson leaves Red Bull not as an experiment, but as a proven stand-in who turned a difficult scenario into a quietly impressive audition.
Now comes Baku, a street circuit that punishes hesitation and rewards confidence. Lawson arrives there with momentum, even if his overalls are a different shade again. The aim is simple: carry that form back into the midfield fight and keep climbing from ninth in the championship.
On-track action in Azerbaijan begins tomorrow, with first practice at 10.30pm (NZT). The race goes green at 11pm on Saturday.
Lawson has had his taste of the front. The question for the rest of this season is whether that three-race spell was a cameo—or the prelude to something bigger.
