The 19 year old from Pukekohe gets to drive a Formula 1 car at the end of what has been a very busy year, as he raced in two categories in very different types of car. He raced alongside Alex Albon in the DTM and was in the fight for the title right down to the final race and also competed in Formula 2, where he won his very first race in the category. Winning first time out is something of a habit for Lawson, having done it in 8 series out of 9 in his career to date!
That and the other statistics from his track record prove that the lad has got an abundance of talent. In New Zealand, having shone in karts, he moved to Formula First, winning straight away and finishing the season in sixth place. In 2016, he totally dominated in Formula Ford, coming close to perfection with 14 wins, one second place 15 poles positions and 15 fastest race laps from the 15 races. He also became the youngest ever champion in the category. In 2017, he moved from New Zealand to the Netherlands to start his European racing career, finishing second in his first season of ADAC Formula 4. He celebrated his 17th birthday by joining the Red Bull Junior Driver Programme. With support from Red Bull, he then moved to England and took part in EFO (Formula 3) the new FIA F3 championship and now he has just rounded off 2021 tackling his first Formula 2 season.
Not only is Liam quick on track, he is also a dab hand at sim racing and back in his bedroom in Pukekohe he has a simulator he uses whenever he is home. He also raced for us in the Virtual GP Series, which was organised in 2020 to give fans something to watch while the real F1 races were cancelled because of the pandemic. Now he is about to get behind the wheel of one of our cars once again, but this time a real one. We caught up with Liam to find out a bit more about him when he came to our Faenza factory for pre-test meetings with our engineers and for his AT02 seat fitting.
