Liam Lawson has received a timely show of support from a former teammate, as growing frustration among fans and observers questions why the Kiwi continues to be singled out for criticism in what’s been a challenging Formula 1 season.
Nick Cassidy, fresh off his second Formula E race win of 2025, is standing firmly in Lawson’s corner, urging fans and critics alike to look at the bigger picture and not rush to judgment.
Lawson’s return to Racing Bulls after a short-lived promotion to Red Bull Racing came early in the season. While the first few races proved difficult, his form has gradually improved. A breakthrough in Monaco yielded his first points of the season, followed by a career-best sixth-place result in Austria.
In recent rounds, he’s shown glimpses of the pace and poise that made him such a strong presence in 2023 and 2024.
“I caught up with him recently, and I think he’s quite happy with some of the changes they’ve been making on setup and development to suit him, and it’s been a little bit obvious in the last two weekends, the lift in form,” Cassidy told RacingNews365.
“And so I really hope he can keep that going. And you know, the Formula 1 calendar, it is long and people in motorsport have short memories.”
Despite sitting 16th in the championship, ahead of the very driver who replaced him at Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda, and also ahead of Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto, Lawson seems to be one of the only drivers consistently facing a wave of negativity online.
Visit the Haas or Stake F1 Team (Kick Sauber) Facebook pages, and even after difficult weekends like Bortoleto’s incident at Silverstone, there’s little to no criticism. Meanwhile, even minor incidents involving Lawson often spark hundreds of negative comments.
Some fans are still bringing up his crash in the season-opener in Melbourne, even though multiple cars also crashed out of the race, including seasoned drivers like Fernando Alonso and Lawson’s current teammate, Isack Hadjar, who crashed on the formation lap and continues to receive widespread praise and largely avoids scrutiny.
The question many are starting to ask: why does Lawson seem to be held to a different standard?
Cassidy, who previously teamed up with Lawson in DTM and raced against him in Super Formula, believes Lawson has what it takes to push through the pressure and silence the critics.
“I’m sure he has the opportunity to really turn it around, and the talent to turn it around,” Cassidy added.
Lawson’s latest race at Silverstone ended in heartbreak after a first-lap collision with Esteban Ocon forced him to retire. Despite showing solid top-ten pace throughout practice, a poor qualifying left him on the back foot.
With a short break before the next round, Lawson will look to regroup ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, a venue where he has a strong track record. He claimed victory in the 2022 Formula 2 sprint race and also stood on the podium in the feature race.
His success at Spa dates back even further, with a third-place finish in Race 2 of the 2020 Formula 3 season, and another podium in 2019 while competing in the Euroformula Open Championship.
Meanwhile, Cassidy himself is enjoying a purple patch, winning the second Berlin E-Prix last weekend. His Jaguar TCS Racing teammate Mitch Evans won the first race of the double-header, making it a clean Kiwi sweep.
Formula E’s season concludes in London with another double-header on July 26–27.
Header Image: Simon Galloway/LAT Images for Formula E & Peter Fox/LAT Images via Red Bull Content Pool
