Kiwi Liam Lawson to race Formula 1 car around Bathurst

Friday, 27 January 2023

Lawson opens his 2023 motorsport account with a unique challenge at Bathurst.

Red Bull Junior pilot Liam Lawson is set to be only the third person to race a fully fledged Formula 1 car around Mount Panorama, Bathurst.

It was confirmed earlier today that Lawson, a former Toyota Racing Series champion and race winner in both Formula 3 and Formula 2, would get to fire a 2011 Red Bull RB7 around the mountain next weekend.

It won’t be the first time Lawson has driven an F1 car, having performed practice runs for both Alpha Tauri and Red Bull last season.

Lawson’s demonstration runs form part of the support card for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, which takes place on February 3–5.

Ironically, although he has raced at the likes of Spa and Monaco, Lawson has never raced at Mount Panorama – having never even been to Bathurst.

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'I've never been to Bathurst before so it'll be a first for me,” he said.

“It's a track that I've done a lot in sim racing and iRacing. Being from New Zealand, Supercars is a massive series and I've grown up watching it, especially the Bathurst 1000. It's always been one of the biggest events that I've known.”

“I'm excited to finally tackle the Mountain and in that car as well – in the RB7 – which I have had the privilege of driving once and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life,” he added.

“To have that opportunity again at such a unique place, and to see the fans' reaction to the car because I think it will be quite cool.”

It had been speculated that Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo might have been the driver behind the wheel of the Red Bull machine, given his local connection and having recently signed with the team as its reserve driver.

Lawson will only be the third race driver to attack Mount Panorama with a Formula 1 car, following in the footsteps of F1 world champion Jenson Button and Supercars legend Craig Lowndes.

In 2011, Button and Lowndes got to take turns whipping a McLaren MP4-23 around the iconic circuit. Button set the quickest time of the day; a 1:48.8 – approximately 14 seconds quicker than the record held by a V8 Supercar at the time.