Liam Lawson says 2026 F1 vehicles should not “super fun” to drive

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand driver Liam Lawson is wanting ahead to the beginning of the brand new Formula 1 season in Melbourne this weekend, though he says the new-era vehicles should not “super fun” to drive.

Lawson is hoping to construct on a troubled 2025 season through which he lasted solely two races with Red Bull earlier than being demoted to the sister Racing Bulls group.

He had combined outcomes and was outshone by his teammate Isack Hadjar who has now joined Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Lawson was the final driver to have his place on the 2026 grid confirmed and has been joined at Racing Bulls by rookie Arvid Lindblad.

In a New Zealand radio interview Tuesday, Lawson stated new rules which have introduced in hybrid energy items and totally different aero setups have been “challenging.”

“In some ways the car moves around quite a bit more and, it depends on how you look at it, that can be more enjoyable,” he stated. “But obviously we’re trying to extract every bit of lap time out of the car and in some ways it feels like you can’t attack as much as you could in the past when you had a lot more downforce.”

Lawson stated 2026 vehicles and noticeably smaller and “a little bit more playful” to drive.

“But I think the main reason for that is just because we have a significant amount of aero taken off the car,” Lawson stated. “When you have a car that’s extremely high downforce, it’s designed to push through the air in a straight line.”

Racing Bulls might be utilizing new Red Bull-Ford energy items in 2026 and Lawson stated his group had been happy with their reliability. He stated reliability could be a key situation early within the season.

Lawson has discovered so much from final season, regardless of its challenges.

“I’m grateful to have done that and feel a lot better going into this year but just because of new cars and new regulations it sort of throws a whole new thing in there that is quite unknown,” he stated.

“On a personal level, I feel very comfortable and excited for the season, but, in a lot of ways obviously with these new cars, there’s a lot of unknowns.”

The Australian Grand Prix on the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne will open the 2026 season on Sunday.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Steve Mcmorran, The Associated Press