Detailed: The private talks Christian Horner held with Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson revealed he was assured by Christian Horner his time on the Formula 1 sidelines “wouldn’t be permanent”, after being put back into his reserve role for the 2024 season.

Lawson impressed in a five-race stint in 2023, subbing in for Daniel Ricciardo while he recovered from a fracture in his hand, but soon after the Australian returned to the cockpit, he was confirmed to be staying with VCARB for a full season in 2024, with Lawson acting as reserve for both Red Bull teams.

Liam Lawson reveals ‘I would have a seat’ 2023 conversation with Christian Horner

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Lawson was eventually promoted back to the Formula 1 grid for the final portion of the 2024 season, at the expense of Ricciardo, whom Lawson revealed was the only driver to reach out and congratulate him for his subsequent promotion to Red Bull ahead of the 2025 campaign, which Lawson believes “says a lot about him as a person.”

But even though he was told by the Red Bull team principal he would have to vacate the cockpit he was driving for 2024, Lawson says he was told his time would come again – and soon.

“When I stepped out in 2023, I had a conversation with Christian, where I was basically told that I wasn’t going to be signed because Daniel was going to come back,” Lawson revealed to the Australian version of GQ.

“But he also told me that it wouldn’t be permanent and that I would have a seat. His goal was to have me in a car sometime in the next 12 months.”

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Though Lawson now has 11 race starts under his belt, this will be the first time he has started a season as a Formula 1 driver.

The season will begin at the race closest to what will be a ‘home’ event for the New Zealander, at Albert Park in Australia – though he acknowledged it is a circuit at which he has never raced before.

When asked if he still feels like a rookie going into the new year, he replied to media including PlanetF1.com: “I think I feel like a rookie in Melbourne, and at the tracks I haven’t done for sure, but I think obviously in Formula 1, no.

“I’ve been in the paddock long enough; I’ve obviously done enough races to know how the sport works and to understand it.

“Starting the season, it’s going to feel quite new, just because of the tracks we’re going to and because it’s the start of a season. But no, in Formula 1, I don’t feel like a rookie.

“It’s a track that I haven’t driven at, so it’s going to be a tough weekend to learn, adapt as quickly as possible, but that’s really how most of my races in F1 have been so far anyway. So yeah, it’s exciting.”

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