Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand motor racing driver, mentored by three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner Ken Smith, reigning Toyota Racing Series champion and member of the Red Bull Junior Team.[1][2][3]

Liam Lawson
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(2002-02-11) 11 February 2002 Hastings, New Zealand
FIA Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season	2019
Current team	Hitech Grand Prix
Car number	5
Former teams	MP Motorsport
Starts	28 (28 entries)
Wins	2
Podiums	6
Poles	0
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	11th in 2019
Previous series
2019-20 2019 2018 2018 2017 2016–17	Toyota Racing Series Euroformula Open Championship F3 Asian Championship ADAC Formula 4 Australian Formula 4 Championship NZ F1600 Championship Series
Championship titles
2019 2016–17	Toyota Racing Series NZ F1600 Championship Series

Career

Karting

Born in Hastings but raised in Pukekohe, Lawson began karting at the age of seven, competing in numerous championships across New Zealand, including two karting titles in 2014.[4][5][6][7][8]

Lower formulae

In 2015, Lawson made his single-seater debut in the Formula First Manfield Winter Series with Sabre Motorsport, taking a win and ten podiums to finish second overall.[9] A few months later, he joined Sabre to contest the NZ Formula First championship, taking a win and three podiums on his way to sixth in the championship and the Rookie of the Year title.[10][11][12] The following year, Lawson graduated to the NZ F1600 Championship Series.[13] There he dominated proceedings, claiming fourteen of the fifteen victories on offer to become the youngest champion in not just the series' history, but the youngest ever Formula Ford champion in world at the time.[14]

In 2017, Lawson moved up to the Australian F4 championship with BRM, taking five wins to finish as vice-champion in only his rookie season.[15][16] The following year, Lawson remained at Formula 4 level, moving across to contest the ADAC Formula 4 championship with Van Amersfoort Racing and received backing from Turner's, the New Zealand used car network that had previously sponsored IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.[17][18] Claiming three wins and three pole positions, Lawson's performances saw him claim his second consecutive F4 vice-champion position.[19]

Toyota Racing Series

In November 2018, Lawson joined M2 Competition for the 2019 championship.[20] Lawson dominated on debut at Highlands, taking 2 races wins by over nine-seconds each and won the Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy as a result of winning Race 3.[21][22] Claiming three additional wins across the season, Lawson secured the title at the New Zealand Grand Prix after a season long battle with Ferrari junior and fellow countryman Marcus Armstrong.[2]

Euroformula Open Championship

Lawson had been set to join the inaugural season of the Formula European Masters with Motopark, alongside fellow Red Bull Junior Yuki Tsunoda, but followed the German outfit to the Euroformula Open Championship when Formula European Masters was cancelled due to a lack of entrants.[23][24][25]

International Formula 3

In November 2018, Lawson competed in the season finale of the Asian F3 championship with Irish outfit Pinnacle Motorsport.[26] He proceeded to dominate the weekend, taking all wins, fastest laps and pole positions on offer to finish eighth in the championship.[27][28]

FIA Formula 3 Championship

In March 2019, Lawson joined MP Motorsport to contest the inaugural championship.[29] The season saw him claim two sprint race podiums at Silverstone and Monza and end the championship eleventh overall.[30][31]

The following year, Lawson switched to Hitech Grand Prix, joining fellow Red Bull Junior Dennis Hauger.[32] Lawson recorded his first victory in the Austrian race.[33]

Formula One

In February 2019, Lawson was named as a new recruit to the Red Bull Junior Team.[3]

Road to Indy

In December 2017, Lawson partook in the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout, finishing as the fastest driver but losing out on the scholarship to Ireland's Keith Donegan.[34][35][36]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2015	Formula First Manfeild Winter Series	Sabre Motorsport	12	1	1	1	10	631	2nd
2015–16	New Zealand Formula First Championship		24	1	0	1	3	1028	6th
2016–17	NZ F1600 Championship Series	Liam Lawson Motorsport	15	14	5	12	15	605	1st
2017	CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship	Team BRM	21	5	1	1	12	300	2nd
	Victorian State Circuit Racing Formula Vee Championship	JRD	3	0	0	0	1	60	15th
2018	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	Van Amersfoort Racing	20	3	3	0	9	234	2nd
	F3 Asian Championship	Pinnacle Motorsport	3	3	2	3	3	75	8th
2019	FIA Formula 3 Championship	MP Motorsport	16	0	0	0	2	41	11th
	Macau Grand Prix		2	0	0	0	0	N/A	7th
	Euroformula Open Championship	Motopark	14	4	2	1	7	179	2nd
	Toyota Racing Series	M2 Competition	15	5	4	5	11	356	1st
2020	FIA Formula 3 Championship	Hitech Grand Prix	12	2		1	4	99*	3rd*
	Toyota Racing Series	M2 Competition	15	5	4	7	10	356	2nd

^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Points
2019	MP Motorsport	CAT FEA NC	CAT SPR 17	LEC FEA 9	LEC SPR 5	RBR FEA 14	RBR SPR 25	SIL FEA 8	SIL SPR 3	HUN FEA 16	HUN SPR 9	SPA FEA 12	SPA SPR 19	MNZ FEA 7	MNZ SPR 2	SOC FEA 18	SOC SPR 8			11th	41
2020	Hitech Grand Prix	RBR1 FEA 6	RBR1 SPR 1	RBR2^‡ FEA 8	RBR2 SPR Ret	HUN FEA Ret	HUN SPR Ret	SIL1 FEA 1	SIL1 SPR 4	SIL2 FEA 3	SIL2 SPR 5	CAT FEA 2	CAT SPR 7	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	MUG FEA	MUG SPR	3rd*	99*

Notes:

• * – Season still in progress.
•  – Half points were awarded, as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.

References

1. Ashenhurst, Ryan (February 6, 2018). "76-Year-Old Kiwi Motorsport Legend Ken Smith Will Compete In The New Zealand Grand Prix". WTF1. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
2. Waring, Bethonie (February 10, 2019). "Lawson defeats Armstrong in New Zealand GP to secure TRS title". FormulaScout. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
3. "Liam Lawson joins Juniors from all corners for global challenge". February 18, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
4. "Liam Lawson - Red Bull Junior Team". Retrieved February 18, 2019.
5. "Pukekohe's Liam Lawson wins $50,000 SpeedSport Scholarship". May 29, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
6. "TWO-IN-ONE FINAL FOR IKS THREE-WAY". 2014. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
7. "2014 KartSport New Zealand National Schools' Championship". July 15, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
8. "Foot on the pedal, an eye on the prize". June 23, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
9. "LAWSON READY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT". September 28, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
10. "LAWSON LEADING ROOKIE AFTER CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT". October 9, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
11. "LAWSON SET FOR HOMETOWN DEBUT AFTER MAIDEN FORMULA FIRST WIN". December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
12. "Pukekohe's Liam Lawson wins Rookie of the Year at NZ Formula First championship". April 8, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
13. "Liam Lawson Stepping Up To Formula Ford". May 24, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
14. "Youngest Formula 1600 champion – Liam Lawson". February 15, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
15. "5 OPEN WHEEL YOUNG GUNS YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING". June 5, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
16. "Liam Lawson wins opening Australia F4 round". April 8, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
17. "Liam Lawson joins Van Amersfoort Racing". March 19, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
18. "Turners & Liam Lawson Sponsorship". Retrieved November 24, 2018.
19. "Pukekohe's Lawson claims runner-up in German F4 championship". October 2, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
20. Allen, Peter (November 28, 2018). "Liam Lawson gets Toyota Racing Series seat with M2 Competition". FormulaScout. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
21. https://www.driven.co.nz/news/motorsport/kiwi-1-2-liam-lawson-claims-toyota-racing-series-win-on-debut/
22. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12189716
23. Allen, Peter (February 18, 2019). "Liam Lawson signed to Red Bull Junior Team after TRS title, to race for Motopark in FEM". FormulaScout. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
24. Wood, Elliot (April 2, 2019). "Motopark makes Euroformula Open switch, retains FEM line-up". FormulaScout. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
25. Simmons, Marcus (March 22, 2019). "DTM-supporting Formula European Masters series for F3 cars cancelled". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
26. Wood, Elliot (November 21, 2018). "Yifei Ye and Liam Lawson to make F3 debuts at Sepang this weekend". FormulaScout. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
27. Wood, Elliot (November 24, 2018). "ADAC F4 star Liam Lawson stuns on Asian F3 debut at Sepang". FormulaScout. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
28. Wood, Elliot (November 25, 2018). "Hyman wins Asian F3 title as Lawson completes triple win". FormulaScout. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
29. "Liam Lawson joins MP Motorsport for debut FIA F3 campaign". March 10, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
30. "FORMULA 3: Pulcini pounces at Silverstone for first win of the season". July 14, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
31. "Terrific Tsunoda soars to first F3 win in Monza". September 8, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
32. "RED BULL JUNIOR TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 2020 - NO STOPPING THE JUNIORS RACING AND WINNING INTO A NEW SEASON". January 28, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
33. "WORLD WRAP: Piastri leads F3 Championship". Speed Cafe. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
34. "MAZDA ROAD TO INDY SHOOT-OUT NEXT FOR LAWSON". November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
35. Wood, Elliot (March 15, 2018). "New Zealand star Liam Lawson joins VAR for ADAC F4". FormulaScout. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
36. "Keith Donegan wins Mazda Road to Indy Shootout". December 11, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Liam Lawson career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Michael Scott	NZ F1600 Championship Series Champion 2016-17	Succeeded by Callum Hedge
Preceded by Robert Shwartzman	Toyota Racing Series Champion 2019	Succeeded by Igor Fraga
Preceded by Richard Verschoor	New Zealand Grand Prix Winner 2019	Succeeded by Igor Fraga