Liam Lawson replaces Sergio Perez at Red Bull for 2025: Who is he, junior career and Fernando Alonso rivalry

The New Zealander has been drafted in to replace newly-departed Sergio Perez after a dismal 2024 campaign for the Mexican racer. Lawson, 22, was himself brought into RB after Daniel Riccardo was dropped earlier this season.

Lawson, who joined the Red Bull Junior Programme in 2019, steps in after 11 races for the RB team. He said: “To be announced as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver is a lifelong dream for me. This is something I’ve wanted and worked towards since I was eight years old.

“It’s been an incredible journey so far. I want to say a massive thank you to the whole team at VCARB (RB) for their support, the last six races have played a huge part in my preparation for this next step.

“I am super excited to work alongside Max and learn from a world champion. I have no doubt I will learn from his expertise. I can’t wait to get going.”

Lawson made his debut in F1 at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo and went on to compete in five races, scoring his first points in Texas. He then replaced Ricciardo on a permanent basis for the final six races of the 2024 season and impressed sufficiently to make the jump to Red Bull.

Team principal Christian Horner backed Lawson to shine. He said: “Liam’s performances over the course of his two stints with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls have demonstrated that he’s not only capable of delivering strong results but that he’s also a real racer, not afraid to mix it with the best and come out on top.

“His arrival continues the team’s long history of promoting from within the Red Bull Junior Programme and he follows in the footsteps of championship and race-winning drivers such as Sebastian Vettel and, of course, Max Verstappen.

“There’s no doubt that racing alongside Max, a four-time champion and undoubtedly one of the greatest drivers ever seen in F1, is a daunting task but I’m sure Liam can rise to that challenge and deliver some outstanding results for us next year.”

Lawson’s appointment does mean that RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda - who has beaten Lawson and Daniel Riccardo in the past couple of seasons - has been overlooked once again, and surely will look to advance his career elsewhere in the coming years.

Who is Liam Lawson?

Lawson’s arrival in F1 signaled a generational changing of the guard. While drivers from the past grew up watching the likes of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, Lawson’s racing inspiration came from Lightning McQueen - the animated Disney racecar at the forefront of the Cars movies.

Born in Hastings, he started karting at the age of seven, under the watchful eye of Ken Smith, a three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner. As many Red Bull drivers do, he has been patiently biding his time while he waited for an F1 seat to become available.

After graduating from single-seater junior categories, he even spent one season racing in DTM - and would arguably have won the championship had it not been for a controversial season finale. He was driven into by rival Kelvin van der Linde, who Lawson then described as the “dirtiest driver I’ve ever raced against”.

The New Zealander is fierce, and shies away from neither racing aggressively with his rivals or calling them out in the paddock. He’s already made a few enemies by doing so.

Fernando Alonso rivalry

One of the drivers Lawson has already rubbed the wrong way is two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martin driver has been left frustrated by Lawson’s approach to racing, having clashed during the sprint race in Austin.

The pair were seen engaged in a war of words in the paddock afterwards, where Lawson claims Alonso threatened to “screw” him. Speaking to the press, Lawson added: “I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win, and that's what I'm focused on doing.

“In this situation, we're fighting very hard for sixth in the constructors' [championship], and I'm fighting obviously for my future in Formula 1 as well, so that's what I'm focused on.”

In the Mexico Grand Prix, Lawson also clashed with his predecessor Sergio Perez, with a fierce on-track battle that ended with Lawson passing Perez down the main straight - giving him the middle finger as he did so. Checo meanwhile called Lawson “an idiot” over team radio.

“Coming together with Lawson was very unfortunate,” Perez said afterwards. “I don’t get it - I mean, he just went for the incident, damaging both of our races and I picked up massive damage on the side, that was game over.”