Liam Lawson said his parents sold their house to pay for his racing career and haven’t bought one yet.
The 23-year-old will start his first full season in Formula 1 this weekend as Max Verstappen’s new team mate at Red Bull.Lawson said he made an unsuccessful start to his karting career in New Zealand, where he finished last in every race during his first season of racing, aged seven. However he soon began complaining to his parents about the quality of his machinery.
“I think I complained to my dad for more than a year about my kart,” he told GQ. “I’d tell him that the engine sucked, but he just secretly thought that I sucked.
“Eventually, he got sick of me whining and bought two good engines, and we put them on for the first time at this big race. And when we went out, we qualified first. We started racing at the front all the time. That was the definitive moment, when karting became serious. It was always serious to me. But for my dad, everything changed that one weekend.”
The family sold their house so they could spend more on Lawson’s racing career as he rose up through the tiers of racing. “They still don’t own a house,” he said. “Because of me.”
Lawson made his F1 debut as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, then was called up to replace him last season. He praised how Ricciardo handled the situation
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“I actually spoke to Daniel a lot when it was happening,” he said. “I will always have so much respect for him.
“Throughout the whole ordeal, from when the rumours started to when they were confirmed, he never said a bad word about or towards me. He never made it about me and him, because at the end of the day, it wasn’t our decision. It’s up to the team, and what they decide to do. He was so good to me, through all of it.
“Fast forward to December, when I got the Red Bull seat, and Daniel is still the only driver, past or present, to send me a message about it, congratulating me. It says a lot about him as a person.”
After returning to F1 with RB last year, Lawson impressed Red Bull enough to promote him to their main team. But he irritated some of his rival F1 drivers, including Sergio Perez, whose Red Bull seat he took, and Fernando Alonso.
“It’s funny, because I’ve met a lot of guys that I looked up to as a kid, like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso,” he said. “When you’re younger, they’re your heroes. Now, they’re my competitors.
“I mean, the first time I met Alonso, he yelled at me. Maybe he was having a bad day.”
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Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
11th March 2025, 15:24
Danny Ric, class act
isthatglock21
11th March 2025, 15:43
Clearly his parents are having one too many avocados on toast!!! But fr tho, good to see someone who at least resembles a normal background again, albeit I bet his parents are very much still firmly the upper end of middle class. Hamilton, Vettell, Ocon, Alonso etc are few of the normal guys around. Dying breed. Even new guys like Kimi Antonelli/Ollie Bearman all come from well off backgrounds. Isack Hadgjar I believe is fairly normal, both parents being doctors…which for F1 standards is frankly poverty!
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
11th March 2025, 18:57
yeah i saw a video on youtube about whose parents had what. TBH, you should never hate someone for ‘having something’. But I definitely find more affinity with the drivers who came out of no where and beat the odds. This kind of thing will be harder and harder as F1 attempts to become more investor friendly, but its good that guys like Hadjar are up and coming.
It will be tough rooting for both guys at VCARB, personally I think it’s kinda of shameless that CH (if it was his call) or just RBR didn’t let Yuki get one season with the works team. He was clearly the best last year, after VER, and maybe thats only because of his position with in the culture there.
j p
13th March 2025, 5:04
you are watching a sport that is about who has basically most resources to win.
what you appear to be looking for is in nascar. where machinery is much more on a level playing field and drivers are more from ‘normal’ backgrounds. although the racing is boring.
An Sionnach
11th March 2025, 16:17
It isn’t hard to irritate certain drivers…
Lawson seems nice enough and his driving has been fine. Those who objected didn’t like being caught out by a youngster!
Fair play to Daniel.
El Pollo Loco
12th March 2025, 23:57
Ironically, Anon implied you questioned FA’s Melbourne penalty cause you’re a big fan. lol
Seems like LL’s bringing up one small tiff in a sprint over-and-over again to make it seem like they’ve now big rivals. Can’t hurt it to have his name coming up next to yours as a keyword too.
Yes, very fair play to DR, especially as LL’s fans were painting him out as the devil + constantly attacking him on social media. Ironically, just what they claimed to be angry at DR fans for doing to LL. The the bulk of the toxic fan demo who engages in this type of behavior are usually 12-16 year yo boys followed by unbalanced adults of all ages.
Boomerang
11th March 2025, 16:39
With housing prices in New Zealand he should sign ten year contract to buy a decent house.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
11th March 2025, 18:58
if he’s in F1 for a few more years he might get a good deal.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
11th March 2025, 17:21
I like that Daniel sent him a message. As much as Daniel might have been hurting over the last couple of years, it costs nothing to shake someones hand and wish them the best.
Edvaldo
11th March 2025, 17:23
Ricciardo had no reason to be mad at Lawson. He was a dumpster fire at Mclaren and then was out of a job, Red Bull rescued him from obscurity and gave him a shot at redemption, but turns out he was beyond saving and they had to prepare someone for the future, and now the guy is Max’s team mate. Imagine had they let Ricciardo there out of pity or whatever? He would probably be Max’s team mate now, completely unjustified because they had no one for the seat (Tsunoda was never an option).
So letting Ricciardo go and giving Lawson a bit more mileage, even if it’s still far from ideal, now makes a lot of sense.
Kringle
12th March 2025, 9:24
Just waiting for the first paycheck to come in I’m sure.
El Pollo Poco
12th March 2025, 23:33
Maybe Ukrainians should start up a collection to mov his parents from a luxury condo in NZ to a luxurious estate.