Lawson: You're always being evaluated

While Lawson drove for VCARB in 2024, he is still waiting to find out what Red Bull decide regarding Sergio Perez and whether he will be selected to partner Max Verstappen at the energy drinks outfit in 2025 or his teammate Yuki Tsunoda will be given the nod.

Lawson made his Formula 1 debut in 2023 at the Dutch Grand Prix, where he replaced Daniel Ricciardo, who broke his hand in a crash in practice.

While Lawson impressed with his performances over the five races in which he replaced Ricciardo, the Australian returned to his seat while the Kiwi was sidelined.

That was until the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix when Red Bull decided to show Ricciardo the door after a disappointing performance, signaling the return of Lawson to the F1 grid with the team that will be known as Racing Bulls from 2025 onwards.

As he now awaits the decision from Red Bull regarding his future, Lawson admits there is pressure to prove his worthiness. He told Motorsport.com: "You’re always being evaluated.

"Especially in your early years in F1, with the way our contracts are [set up] and the way the teams are judging us — we have performance clauses, so we’re always under pressure. You’re never really safe.

"Last year, I was trying to get a full-time seat," he reflected on his time replacing Ricciardo. "Now, I’ve got a full-time seat, but I’m trying to stay in Formula 1. It’s the same kind of thing. We’re obviously trying to achieve the best results, but I don’t think your mindset really changes."

Lawson raced in the Japanese Super Formula and in DTM before Red Bull found a space for him in F1, and he revealed Verstappen watched him race in those series.

"Max has always been very good to me over the years when I was a reserve driver," he said. "It’s not like he was keeping an eye [on me] or anything, I think he just watches that many different [racing] series that he happened to see a lot of my races.

"I would come back from a Super Formula race and Max would talk to me about something that had happened. I would be like, ‘Dude, why were you watching that?’ but it was really cool, especially when I was a reserve driver because I was wide-eyed and everything felt new to me.

"To have Max talking to me at that point was really cool. I took a lot of advice from him," Lawson maintained.

While Verstappen was nice to Lawson, if the latter becomes a Red Bull driver in 2025 in Perez's place, he should expect that to change, as the Dutchman will make sure he utterly dominates him on track, like he did to all the other teammates he had before.