“Confidence-wise, it doesn’t change a lot. We all have enough self belief to be here, to make it to Formula One and to be in the sport,” Lawson replied. “If you don’t have that self belief, it makes it very, very difficult. So I think we all have that naturally. It doesn’t really change how I feel about myself.”

Liam Lawson has had an encouraging start to his latest Formula 1 stint with Racing Bulls at the Japanese Grand Prix

In a second practice session that was dogged by no fewer than four red flags, New Zealand’s Liam Lawson can at the very least take pride in clocking a faster lap time than his senior Red Bull teammates at Suzuka.

The signs were there early that Liam Lawson was perhaps not mature enough to handle the job as Red Bull Racing teammate to four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen.

Reiterating his opinion that Liam Lawson looked like a punch-drunk boxer, Helmut Marko believes it was missing FP3 at the Australian Grand Prix followed by a Sprint that led to the driver’s spiral. Red Bull will field a changed line-up for both of their Formula 1 teams in Suzuka this weekend,

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has contended that Liam Lawson losing his drive with Red Bull in Formula 1 to Yuki Tsunoda shouldn’t be recognised as a “demotion”. Lawson registering consecutive scoreless weekends to open the campaign has prompted Red Bull to commit to an immediate change prior to the next race in Japan.

“You have to bear in mind that he came into F1 very arrogant,” Villeneuve told NZCasino. “He came into F1 last year saying how amazing he would be and he had an attitude. "When the results don’t come, it makes everybody react even stronger.”

New revelations have emerged ahead of the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix about what's driven Red Bull to make its controversial swap of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda after just two races. Scott Mitchell-Malm and Jon Noble debrief from the Suzuka paddock having spoken to team insiders and heard from lead driver Max Verstappen - who is not