Liam Lawson’s journey to Formula 1 has been full of twists and turns. After joining the Red Bull driver program in 2019 and climbing through the ranks, he finally got his big chance in 2023.

The New Zealander stepped in for Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri when the Australian injured his hand, showing promise during his six-race stint. But despite some strong performances, he missed out on a full-time seat for the 2024 season.

Things took a turn later that year when VCARB decided to drop Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix this year and he got another chance to show off his talent and fight for 2025 full time seat.

And it finally did pay off as this time as he was rewarded with a dream opportunity to join the main Red Bull team for 2025 as Max Verstappen’s new teammate, after the team decided to part ways with Sergio Perez.

However, Lawson’s success hasn’t come without challenges. He recently talked about facing online hate from fans of Ricciardo and Perez, because of which, he decided to step away from social media.

“Originally I saw a lot of [the abuse] because I didn’t expect it, I wasn’t ready for that,” Lawson told The Times.

“To be honest, I just don’t really go on social media at all anymore – I will post for my fanbase, but I won’t scroll or look through messages.

“You do the prep for F1 to be ready as a driver, and then you don’t really expect that kind of stuff, or you don’t really prepare for it, because you’re just focused on driving.”

Despite all this, Lawson is staying focused on proving himself next to the four-time world champion in 2025.