Following Liam Lawson’s third race at Red Bull Racing substituting for the injured Isack Hadjar, Laurent Mekies gave an assessment of the job he has done after the 2026 F1 Spanish GP.
He qualified P8 on Saturday following a solid effort finishing up 0.3s slower than Max Verstappen. The New Zealander found himself in that posiition at the end of the first lap. While he cleared Oscar Piastri, he dropped behind Franco Colapinto.
Eventually he got by the Alpine on the run to turn 5 on lap 10. Lewis Hamilton’s early DNF meant he was running P6 at that stage.
Despite the Argentinian driver, Lindblad and Hülkenberg getting a cheap stop under the VSC, Liam Lawson managed to have enough pace to rejoin in front of them when he boxed, although he was helped by Gabriel Bortoleto a bit backing up those cars — along with Oscar Piastri for a couple of laps when he boxed to try and undercut — in the last few laps of his long hard tyre stint.
Ultimately, the 24-year-old crossed the line in P6, nearly 8s clear of Franco Colapinto.
Laurent Mekies on the performance of Liam Lawson over the last three races following the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
Since stepping in for the injured Isack Hadjar, it is fair to say that the Kiwi has had a better time in 2026 compared to the first two races of 2025 at Red Bull Racing. The 2023 Super Formula runner-up was brutally demoted to Racing Bulls following difficult weekends in Melbourne and Shanghai.
A P7 in Zandvoort and a P6 on Sunday represents a solid haul of points. At Monza, contact with Nico Hülkenberg meant he missed out on a top 10 there. While he has been a step behind Max Verstappen in both the Italian and Spanish rounds on pace, Lawson is not helped by how different the Racing Bulls and Red Bull Racing packages are.
Speaking in his print media session after the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Red Bull Laurent Mekies reflected on the job the Liam Lawson has done.
“I think he’s done a very good job.
“I think we all know how difficult it is to jump to a different team, to a different car, and I think he has done that to the best of what could have been our expectations.
“He has taken some very important points today with the P6. He did the same in Zandvoort [P7]. In Monza he would have done something similar without the contact with Nico [Hülkenberg] and the front wing damage. So I think he did a very good job.
“Again, very different pictures compared to the first two races of 2025 when he was in the team. So we are thankful and happy with that.”
The growth of the 24-year-old according to the Frenchman
Laurent Mekies and Liam Lawson are no strangers. The Frenchman was appointed Team Principal at Racing Bulls for 2024 following Franz Tost’s retirement. Once Daniel Ricciardo was moved aside, the New Zealander replaced him.
They worked together until Red Bull Racing dismissed Christian Horner, promoting the French engineer mid-season in 2025.
Asked about Liam Lawson’s growth since their days together at Racing Bulls, Laurent Mekies explained how he is focusing on the basics and keeping things as simple as possible.
“Look, I think he has continued to grow as a driver.
“He’s very calm in the car, he’s very focused. He’s certainly managed to keep things simple in the way he interacts with the team and in the way he tackles his own performance and the car performance.
“So he’s focused on the essentials, he tries to get the basics right, and it’s working for him. Of course, with more time in the car, you can then get to another degree of finesse, maybe.
“But yeah, I think at that point he has been very strong.”
