Team Lawson - 'LIAM'S DREAM IS OUR DREAM'

The young champ reveals it took a village to fast track his driving career

Kristy Lawson is used to taking care of things. Her garden is bursting with watermelons, sweetcorn and various summer berries, and she’s clearly in her element with the whole family at home. And currently, that includes her son, Red Bull Racing’s Formula 1 reserve driver Liam Lawson, who last month was named a fi nalist in the Halberg Awards for New Zealand’s Best Sporting Moment for his top-10 fi nish at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

“I love having everyone home,” tells Kristy, 52, who also shares Jessica, 30, Holly, 23, Marcos, 19, and Leah, 18, with husband Jared, 50 – all of whom are at home when the Weekly visits in Pukekohe, South Auckland. “This isn’t even busy – it’s a holiday compared to how it used to be.”

This is the one time of year Liam is back from the UK, where he and his girlfriend, California-born Hannah, 20 – who’s also here – are based. After a few weeks’ rest, Liam returns to the track on February 11 – his 22nd birthday – behind the wheel of a go-kart for the 2024 KartSport Grand Prix. It’s a return to his roots for the aspiring Formula 1 driver, and one he always tries to attend as it’s the event that set him on his current path to become one of the best racing drivers in the world.

Although he missed out on a permanent seat on the 2024 Formula 1 grid, Liam got a taste of things to come in August last year, when he stepped in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo and made his Formula 1 debut in the Dutch Grand Prix. He’s known as the one to watch – which is something any mum would be proud of, but Kristy talks about all her kids with equal delight.