There was Bruce McLaren. There was Denny Hulme. Now, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko says there is Liam Lawson,
Fresh off his runners-up place in DTM, Lawson has won the praises of several key motorsport personalities.
DTM boss Gerhard Berger is “100 per cent confident” Lawson will make it to Formula 1 sometime soon.
Now Dr Marko has jumped on the Lawson hype train, believing the 19-year-old will become New Zealand’s next big F1 star.
“We are very optimistic about him becoming really big,” Marko told German publication motorsport-total.
“For me, he’s a guy like Bruce McLaren. Or like a Denny Hulme. He fits in wonderfully.
“With him there is no bullshit – just bang.”
Since inking a deal as a Red Bull Junior driver in 2019, Lawson has been on a one-way trajectory to F1.
He did two seasons in F3, finishing fifth in 2020 with three race wins.
This year saw him graduate to Formula 2 as well as have a gig in the DTM GT3 series.
His F2 results haven’t yet reflected Lawson’s immense potential. He is eighth in the driver’s standings, but Marko believes he should be higher.
“Unfortunately…there were technical problems [in F2], otherwise he would be up the front of the field.”
Marko said Lawson is doing another season of F2 next year. He will also not be competing in DTM.
“DTM is over for Liam.”
Lawson will test an AlphaTauri F1 car in the young drivers test later this year, followed by some free practice outings during next year’s F1 season.
As for now, Lawson’s attentions are on ending his rookie F2 campaign on a high.
The first of the final two rounds is in Saudi Arabia on December 4-5.