March 13, 2025 • 9 mins
Liam Lawson's pumped the brakes on the prospect of being judged against four-time world champion Max Verstappen in Formula One this season.
The pair are Red Bull team-mates in 2025 after the high profile departure of Sergio Perez.
Lawson's been asked if it's a challenge he's ready for.
The first Grand Prix of the season is on Sunday in Melbourne.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Darcy Wilder
Grave from News Talk sed Be Jared Lawson.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
That doins us now he's the Pop's Almighty of Formula
one Red Bull racing driver Liam Laws and Jared good Evening.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Mate, Hey, Darcy, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm doing well. I'm very, very excited, but probably not
as excited as you and the family. Your boy gets
the start off as Formula one career, starting in Melbourne.
We know he's had eleven races, but now it's bona fide,
he's in Red Ball. It's all go from now. A
talk about excitement, talk about pressure though, how's that working?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Uh yeah, well the pressures are given, it's always there,
I guess. But the excitement, yeah, I think everyone's awaited
a long time for it to happen so and it's
come around. I mean the first race has come around
pretty quick. So he's excited. I think the whole family,
all the supporters excited. There's a hell of a continent
of people. There's a lot of people who have come
(01:06):
across for it, so that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You've had him at home though recently, right, so he's
had a bit of like you know, down home cooking
and a bit of relaxation. How important is that for
him to actually feel that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
I think for him it's very important because he he
kind of his family is quite it was a close family,
so when he's home, he enjoys that, you know, the
home cooking, the you know they're sitting around playing guitars
but laughing, you know, that sort of stuff. So I
think it was a really nice way for him just
to recharge before he came across.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
A massive decompress for him. What it's been like for
him since he's been given the seat and the intense
engagement with him from the media, from Formula One, from
the fans, that that could be overwhelming. How's he coping
with that?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, Look, I can't even imagine what his phone's doing.
My phone's gone ballistic over the last week and a half, sorry,
which is which is great, Like the messages of support
have been just overwhelming, to be honest, But no, I
think I mean, he's well used to it now, and
you know, because he stepped into the Red Bull role
(02:17):
in terms of full time late last year. You know,
it's just a I guess a progression and he's had
a couple of months to adjust and certainly it's a
lot busier. His media commitments, everything are a hell of
a lot busier now than what they were last year,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Have you noticed anything different in the way he is
leading into this event.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
No, I have been looking for anything like that, but no,
he's no different. To be honest, He's approaching in the
same way I think, and which is probably a good thing.
And not seeing anything different about him. Really, he seems
pretty relaxed well, and.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
That's why he's got there in the first place, very focused.
I was talking on yesterday editorial piece about the idea
of him actually locking in and forgetting all the outside
noise and just do what he does best, and I
from what we've seen of his career so far, is
a depth at doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Again, it's just I guess it's just a year on you.
I mean, the pressure ramps up that the you know,
the stakes get higher, a bit higher, you know, and
now it's just continue to do that. I mean performance
on track is crucial, obviously, but I think these first
few rounds is Melbourne has never done the track. In fact,
I think it's the only driver it's never never actually
driven the track. And the Shanghai is never done. So
(03:36):
for him, it's just about getting up to speed and
trying to trying to pull some valuable points out of
those first few races and just build on that from there.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
We just want to know about the expectation on results
we can weak out has been that been laid down
to what the expectations are or what he expects himself,
because he's not going to shake up the world in
the first couple of rounds, but he must have an
idea about where he'd be comfortable, if there's such a
thing in Formula One result wise.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Well, it's interesting to think about Formula One as they
do the pre season testing and then we all wait
to see the first round and see where, you know,
where the cars shake out in terms of performance. So
I don't think anyone's fully aware yet as to the
pecking order, although you know, I think everyone's reasonably come
from McLaren on mclarener on top. But and this track
is a bit of an outlier anyway, being a street seeker,
(04:24):
so I think, you know, in terms of his expectation,
he's always got high expectations. But I think the team
aren't putting too much expectation, and I think really it's
just about learning and trying to get him up to
speed as quickly as possible, bearing in mind he's you know,
he's got a fairly big mountains one considering he's never
done the track and.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
The way he's developed his craft, coming from pretty much
nothing up to the to the top of the tree
with the help from his families. He brought you a
new house yet, Jared.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
No, I'm afraid that's a long way away, still in debt.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I shouldn't laugh about that, but that's the n's right,
the top of Formula one. You're making, you know, millions
and millions of dollars year. You just get in. It's
not so big. How I'm stunned that he's never actually
driven around Albert Park before that. It's just over the road.
It's bizarre.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Well, the thing is because F two and F three
only came here the last last couple of years and
he was of course doing SUPERFORMLA, so he he's He
took James Courtney around in James's BA last year for
a lap for a hot lab and that was That's
about the sum total of the track time he's had
around this round the circuit.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
And he's spent plenty of time stuck stuck in the
sim You've got a simulator at home, he's been on
the PlayStation. He would have done a lap after lap
after lap. Surely you'd like to think he knows it
like the back of his hand.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Ah, I'm sure. I'm sure he's done a lot of
summer in the UK before he left them, and they
have all there some days, so yeah, he would have
done a heck of a lot of some work. But yeah,
at home, I mean, he's still got a sim set up,
But I'm not sure if he went around Albert Park
but it was home. I must ask if he did actually.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And he just was Liam Lawson when he was at home.
He's just your son doing what the son did yet
to tell him to clean his room, to bring his
distance out of his bedroom, that all that kind of
regular stuff. And nothing's changed there, right, Jared.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I did none.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Absolutely nothing has changed there. I can tell you it's
still the same as it was ten years ago.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Has he said anything around the differences you said? You
haven't noticed anything? Like I know how reserved he is,
or he empties everything out to you, but does anything
struck him in the last couple of months that maybe
he didn't see.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Coming, not really as a samon. I think it's because
it's been a you know, a gradual build and the
way things have worked out. I think he knew that
the seat was coming. It's like, well a little bit
of ahead of time before he actually finally got it.
So he's had time to ease, you know, or ease
(06:53):
into it in terms of our mental approach. So I
don't think I haven't certainly haven't seen any any change,
and he hasn't mentioned anything, although it's just that the
media attention has just gone. You know, it's a lot
more right, There's a lot more attention on him, that's
for sure. I mean, when you're in a front running team,
it's quite different to being in a midfield team in
(07:14):
terms of the attention.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You can trust me, I know I can't get anywhere
near him. Yeah, I'm sorry, not bigging up, but that's okay,
that's how happened. When you get up to that level.
What about what you and the family are doing. How
much connection will you have with Liam over practice, over
the qualifying day and raceday itself? You keeping well away
(07:36):
from this loud to and what's the deal there.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well, we flew over with him on the same flight,
but we we haven't seen him since he's basically been
been head down, farm up, doing what he needs to do.
So but we will be in the garage at times
over the weekend, and we'll also be over the other
side of the paddock watching the race as well. But
in terms of actual time to see him, his day
(08:00):
is planned out until a minute, essentially, from the time
he gets the track till the time he gets back
to the hotel, so it's full on. So yeah, we
hopefully might get to have a dinner with them at
some stage, but it may not be until after the
Grand Prix.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
And when you do it for dinner with them, tell
him if he's going to be in g Q again,
don't wear those horrendous clothes. I mean, I saw the
pain in his face with what he had to do.
But that's the nature of his job now, right, he
just got to do that.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, Yeah, you know what they're like. Some of them
follow fashion and some of them don't.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You know, Well, he's a fashionable man. I've seen he's
changed his hair. He's got rid of that big, old
slippy haircut. And he's got a bit of a ruffled
every man. Look now, how deliberate's that?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Every time I see me looks different, So I just
could go with the flow.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Well, we're really looking forward to this and that is
the understatement of the year for me. Jared, thanks for
making yourself available now it's super super busy for you.
All there are wishing you the best and thanks for
your time.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Mate, enjoy it, no worries and just thanks everybody for
all the all the support messages and so forth. He's
been he's been overwhelmed by it all, so that's great.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it Me from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Darcy Wilder
Grave from News Talk sed Be Jared Lawson.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
That doins us now he's the Pop's Almighty of Formula
one Red Bull racing driver Liam Laws and Jared good Evening.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Mate, Hey, Darcy, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm doing well. I'm very, very excited, but probably not
as excited as you and the family. Your boy gets
the start off as Formula one career, starting in Melbourne.
We know he's had eleven races, but now it's bona fide,
he's in Red Ball. It's all go from now. A
talk about excitement, talk about pressure though, how's that working?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Uh yeah, well the pressures are given, it's always there,
I guess. But the excitement, yeah, I think everyone's awaited
a long time for it to happen so and it's
come around. I mean the first race has come around
pretty quick. So he's excited. I think the whole family,
all the supporters excited. There's a hell of a continent
of people. There's a lot of people who have come
(01:06):
across for it, so that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
You've had him at home though recently, right, so he's
had a bit of like you know, down home cooking
and a bit of relaxation. How important is that for
him to actually feel that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
I think for him it's very important because he he
kind of his family is quite it was a close family,
so when he's home, he enjoys that, you know, the
home cooking, the you know they're sitting around playing guitars
but laughing, you know, that sort of stuff. So I
think it was a really nice way for him just
to recharge before he came across.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
A massive decompress for him. What it's been like for
him since he's been given the seat and the intense
engagement with him from the media, from Formula One, from
the fans, that that could be overwhelming. How's he coping
with that?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, Look, I can't even imagine what his phone's doing.
My phone's gone ballistic over the last week and a half, sorry,
which is which is great, Like the messages of support
have been just overwhelming, to be honest, But no, I
think I mean, he's well used to it now, and
you know, because he stepped into the Red Bull role
(02:17):
in terms of full time late last year. You know,
it's just a I guess a progression and he's had
a couple of months to adjust and certainly it's a
lot busier. His media commitments, everything are a hell of
a lot busier now than what they were last year,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Have you noticed anything different in the way he is
leading into this event.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
No, I have been looking for anything like that, but no,
he's no different. To be honest, He's approaching in the
same way I think, and which is probably a good thing.
And not seeing anything different about him. Really, he seems
pretty relaxed well, and.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
That's why he's got there in the first place, very focused.
I was talking on yesterday editorial piece about the idea
of him actually locking in and forgetting all the outside
noise and just do what he does best, and I
from what we've seen of his career so far, is
a depth at doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Again, it's just I guess it's just a year on you.
I mean, the pressure ramps up that the you know,
the stakes get higher, a bit higher, you know, and
now it's just continue to do that. I mean performance
on track is crucial, obviously, but I think these first
few rounds is Melbourne has never done the track. In fact,
I think it's the only driver it's never never actually
driven the track. And the Shanghai is never done. So
(03:36):
for him, it's just about getting up to speed and
trying to trying to pull some valuable points out of
those first few races and just build on that from there.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
We just want to know about the expectation on results
we can weak out has been that been laid down
to what the expectations are or what he expects himself,
because he's not going to shake up the world in
the first couple of rounds, but he must have an
idea about where he'd be comfortable, if there's such a
thing in Formula One result wise.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Well, it's interesting to think about Formula One as they
do the pre season testing and then we all wait
to see the first round and see where, you know,
where the cars shake out in terms of performance. So
I don't think anyone's fully aware yet as to the
pecking order, although you know, I think everyone's reasonably come
from McLaren on mclarener on top. But and this track
is a bit of an outlier anyway, being a street seeker,
(04:24):
so I think, you know, in terms of his expectation,
he's always got high expectations. But I think the team
aren't putting too much expectation, and I think really it's
just about learning and trying to get him up to
speed as quickly as possible, bearing in mind he's you know,
he's got a fairly big mountains one considering he's never
done the track and.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
The way he's developed his craft, coming from pretty much
nothing up to the to the top of the tree
with the help from his families. He brought you a
new house yet, Jared.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
No, I'm afraid that's a long way away, still in debt.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I shouldn't laugh about that, but that's the n's right,
the top of Formula one. You're making, you know, millions
and millions of dollars year. You just get in. It's
not so big. How I'm stunned that he's never actually
driven around Albert Park before that. It's just over the road.
It's bizarre.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Well, the thing is because F two and F three
only came here the last last couple of years and
he was of course doing SUPERFORMLA, so he he's He
took James Courtney around in James's BA last year for
a lap for a hot lab and that was That's
about the sum total of the track time he's had
around this round the circuit.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
And he's spent plenty of time stuck stuck in the
sim You've got a simulator at home, he's been on
the PlayStation. He would have done a lap after lap
after lap. Surely you'd like to think he knows it
like the back of his hand.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Ah, I'm sure. I'm sure he's done a lot of
summer in the UK before he left them, and they
have all there some days, so yeah, he would have
done a heck of a lot of some work. But yeah,
at home, I mean, he's still got a sim set up,
But I'm not sure if he went around Albert Park
but it was home. I must ask if he did actually.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And he just was Liam Lawson when he was at home.
He's just your son doing what the son did yet
to tell him to clean his room, to bring his
distance out of his bedroom, that all that kind of
regular stuff. And nothing's changed there, right, Jared.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
I did none.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Absolutely nothing has changed there. I can tell you it's
still the same as it was ten years ago.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Has he said anything around the differences you said? You
haven't noticed anything? Like I know how reserved he is,
or he empties everything out to you, but does anything
struck him in the last couple of months that maybe
he didn't see.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Coming, not really as a samon. I think it's because
it's been a you know, a gradual build and the
way things have worked out. I think he knew that
the seat was coming. It's like, well a little bit
of ahead of time before he actually finally got it.
So he's had time to ease, you know, or ease
(06:53):
into it in terms of our mental approach. So I
don't think I haven't certainly haven't seen any any change,
and he hasn't mentioned anything, although it's just that the
media attention has just gone. You know, it's a lot
more right, There's a lot more attention on him, that's
for sure. I mean, when you're in a front running team,
it's quite different to being in a midfield team in
(07:14):
terms of the attention.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You can trust me, I know I can't get anywhere
near him. Yeah, I'm sorry, not bigging up, but that's okay,
that's how happened. When you get up to that level.
What about what you and the family are doing. How
much connection will you have with Liam over practice, over
the qualifying day and raceday itself? You keeping well away
(07:36):
from this loud to and what's the deal there.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Well, we flew over with him on the same flight,
but we we haven't seen him since he's basically been
been head down, farm up, doing what he needs to do.
So but we will be in the garage at times
over the weekend, and we'll also be over the other
side of the paddock watching the race as well. But
in terms of actual time to see him, his day
(08:00):
is planned out until a minute, essentially, from the time
he gets the track till the time he gets back
to the hotel, so it's full on. So yeah, we
hopefully might get to have a dinner with them at
some stage, but it may not be until after the
Grand Prix.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
And when you do it for dinner with them, tell
him if he's going to be in g Q again,
don't wear those horrendous clothes. I mean, I saw the
pain in his face with what he had to do.
But that's the nature of his job now, right, he
just got to do that.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, Yeah, you know what they're like. Some of them
follow fashion and some of them don't.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You know, Well, he's a fashionable man. I've seen he's
changed his hair. He's got rid of that big, old
slippy haircut. And he's got a bit of a ruffled
every man. Look now, how deliberate's that?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Every time I see me looks different, So I just
could go with the flow.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Well, we're really looking forward to this and that is
the understatement of the year for me. Jared, thanks for
making yourself available now it's super super busy for you.
All there are wishing you the best and thanks for
your time.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Mate, enjoy it, no worries and just thanks everybody for
all the all the support messages and so forth. He's
been he's been overwhelmed by it all, so that's great.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it Me from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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