Call it cosmic karma or poetic justice, but on the scene of Liam Lawson's Formula 1 debut, deputising for Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, the New Zealander is again replacing a driver in the Red Bull stable at Zandvoort because of a hand injury.

Lawson eventually used his five-race stint with Alpha Tauri in 2023 as a launch pad for full-time graduation, as the organisation finally moved on from Ricciardo in the latter half of 2024. That led to a Red Bull promotion in 2025, over Yuki Tsunoda, but after just two point-less weekends the New Zealander was unceremoniously swapped with Tsunoda and returned to the satellite team.

Having been hung out to dry in a difficult car without getting enough time to find his feet, Lawson could have easily dropped his head or burned his bridges. But since then, the 24-year-old has been quietly but steadily rehabilitating himself, becoming a more rounded driver at Racing Bulls as he helped propel the Anglo-Italian squad to sixth place in the constructors' standings.

"I would have liked to have thought that with the right amount of time, I would have got my head around it honestly," Lawson reflected. "Two races was... I honestly don't even really remember them. But a lot of things have happened this year that have made me a lot stronger."

In the other Racing Bulls seat, Isack Hadjar hung on to his head start by being in the car all season and was, on average, the fastest of the two drivers over one lap. Lawson also showed enough speed, consistency and resilience to get another season, in which he is fighting a close intra-team battle with rookie Arvid Lindblad. Lawson is leading Lindblad 8-6 in the qualifying head-to-head.

"We could tell he certainly wasn't the same guy... we just supported and helped him where we could," team principal Alan Permane said. Red Bull's leadership has changed since that fateful Red Bull stint, with both team principal Christian Horner and driver development advisor Helmut Marko out of the picture. But Lawson now gets a chance to at least have a second go at the big team in a deputising role.