Liam Lawson hails 'different' Racing Bulls relationship: 'Nothing really changed'

Liam Lawson has shared how his "different" relationship with Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has been key to his strong performances in F1 this season.

The New Zealander has scored 39 points from the opening nine rounds, including the last five, and has been one of the stand-out drivers in the paddock this term.

Appearing on a recent episode of the High Performance Podcast, host Jake Humphrey asked Lawson about the culture Permane has created at Racing Bulls and how it has helped shape the mindset behind his impressive form this season.

The 24-year-old explained how he is "really close" to the Faenza-based squad's boss, in large part due to the relationship they built when Permane was in his previous role of racing director, whilst Lawson was still establishing himself in Formula 1.

Permane joined the Red Bull sister team in his original position at the start of 2024, just months after Lawson had deputised for Daniel Ricciardo for five rounds.

Despite being back on the sidelines for the majority of the campaign, Lawson replaced his fellow Antipodean following the Singapore Grand Prix that year, and when he returned to Racing Bulls after his two-round stint at the top team to kick off the subsequent season, Permane was just one of the many familiar faces waiting to welcome Lawson back into the fold.

"Alan was obviously sort of the chief engineer when he was in the team, so when I was coming into Formula 1, that was his role," Lawson said.

"I already had so many technical conversations and engineering conversations, and car and driver conversations that you would normally have with an engineer with him, so when he went to team principal, nothing really changed on that side."

After Christian Horner was sacked as team principal at Red Bull last July, then-Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies assumed the position, prompting Permane's promotion.

Despite that change, Lawson's relationship with the Briton has stayed the same over the past year, something he feels is an advantage now.

"We still have that really close relationship and talk about stuff on a personal side, on a car side, what works for us," he added.

"And I think that, honestly, has been something that has been quite cool; in a different way that most team principals probably don't have."