Formula 1 broadcaster Will Buxton believes Liam Lawson’s career at Red Bull could have been over if the New Zealander had struggled during his return at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar missed the race weekend at Zandvoort after suffering a wrist injury during the summer break. Racing Bulls driver Lawson was brought back into the Red Bull seat alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen, while reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda replaced him at the sister team.
The weekend represented a major test for Lawson, who had been dropped by Red Bull after only two race weekends in 2025. Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, Buxton outlined the pressure facing the driver.
“I don’t think you can underestimate or undervalue the pressure that would have been on him, that he would have been putting on himself to step back into a team where he had turned up and tried everything but had been fired after two races,” Buxton explained.
Liam Lawson, Red Bull
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
“If he turned up there and qualified at the back of the grid and was nowhere all weekend, that’s pretty much career done.”
Lawson qualified eighth, one place behind Verstappen, and finished the race seventh after the Dutchman crashed on the opening lap.
“So to turn up and drive the way that he did, to race the way that he did, qualify the way that he did, I was really happy for him,” he continued. “His radio message after the race was very sweet and there was a lot of honesty in that.
“It was a weekend of catharsis to put all that horrible experience behind him and move on and show the world and show Red Bull, ‘Look at what you could have had.’ It was nice.”
Source: www.motorsport.com
