Driving test guilt, Lightning McQueen and singing with Yuki Tsunoda

Liam Lawson is the latest driver to experience our quickfire quiz like no other as the RB man features in Getting to Know. From crying the first time he heard a go-kart to his love for the animated movie Cars, and the dream all-time F1 line-up he would choose to his dad’s valuable advice, the New Zealander shares it all in the video player above and transcript below…

Can you describe yourself in three words?

It’s really hard to describe yourself! I would say blond, in more meanings than just the hair... I’m actually quite a blond person, quite gullible. Loud… I’m probably quite a loud person. And fast, to put something [about] racing in there.

What made you fall in love with F1?

For me it was realising, honestly, what the pinnacle of motorsport was. I loved cars, I loved motorsport as a kid, when I was very young, four or five years old. Then I started [racing] go-karts and I understood more of what the actual levels were. When I realised that F1 was the pinnacle, the highest level… For me, it’s about being the best, and being the best at something. I’m very competitive… I probably should have put that in [the first answer] as well! But that’s when I properly fell in love with F1.

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 01: Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Visa Cash App RB walks in the — Lawson made his F1 debut as a super-sub in 2023 and recently took over Daniel Ricciardo’s seat at RB

We’ve had some very interesting answers to this next question… When and where did you first drive something? Alex Albon cried driving a little go-kart around Disneyland, so I don’t know if you have a story like that…

I cried! The first time I got in my go-kart, just from when the engine started, at home in my garage… Just turning on the engine, I started crying. It was probably good that we got through that before going to the track! The first time I actually drove? I was on little grass go-karts, quad bikes and little dirt bikes from a very young age, and the first time I drove a go-kart I was six years old.

There’s a lot of pressure on this next question as well… How many times did it take you to pass your driving test?

I’ll be honest, I did pass it, but the guy let me off – I shouldn’t have passed it! You’re allowed I think three critical errors, I got four, and he let me go. I did pass it, but I do feel a little bit of guilt there knowing that I probably shouldn’t have passed it.

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How did that conversation go afterwards?

Well, he said, ‘I probably shouldn’t pass you here, you have four critical errors’. One of them was taking both hands off the steering wheel, and I don’t know why I would do that… I can’t really remember a time where I would just drive with no hands, but that was one of my errors. But he said, ‘I’m going to let you go with this one, but make sure that you drive with both hands!’

Lawson is a massive fan of anthropomorphic stock car Lightning McQueen from the Cars animation

Good advice…

I was like, ‘Good advice, thanks mate’, yeah!

We know you’re a big fan of the movie, so if you were given the chance to create your own Cars character, what would you call it, how would it look and what personality would it have?

I think personality-wise I would want it to represent me, if I was creating a character – I would have a lot of my personality in there. It would have to look cool; it would have to be a cool-looking car; it couldn’t be a boring looking car. Obviously he’d have to be fast, and he’d have to race. He’d have to be like Lightning [McQueen] and he’d have to be in the Piston Cup – he’d have to win the Piston Cup! Number 30 as well.

So that’s the main goal…

That’s the main goal. All I really care about is that he’s fast!

How many times do you reckon you’ve watched that film now?

Ah, so many times. Honestly, I would say… When I was really young, I watched it every other day, and genuinely every other day. It was something [I did] sometimes every day or maybe I’d have two days off, but I’d watch it a lot. It’s got to be in the hundreds, I would say!

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Who would be part of your all-time F1 dream team? So that’s two drivers and a team boss...

It’s really tricky. I can’t have myself in there, can I? So, I only get one team mate...

A few drivers have done that… A bit of a loophole…

That makes sense. I’d have myself in there, selfishly. I’d have an all-Kiwi team, so I’d probably throw in… The timeline doesn’t make sense, but Bruce McLaren would be my team mate. Team boss? I feel like there’s going to be a lot of conflict if I don’t… I’m going to say… I have no idea (smiles).

You’re going to stay loyal to RB…

I’m going to stay loyal here!

We also know you like playing the guitar, so if you could form an F1 band, who would be in it and what would it be called? Charles Leclerc has come up every time…

I would definitely throw him in there; he’s obviously good on the piano. Lewis [Hamilton] does a lot with music so I’m guessing he’s probably quite good at… He’d probably understand the producing side of making music, so I’d throw him in there. I might even throw Yuki in for some harmonies – he’s got quite a good voice actually. In terms of what we’d call it… I have no idea, I have absolutely no idea!

Lawson made an impressive points-scoring F1 return at the recent United States Grand Prix

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

It’s very cheesy, but basically that anything – especially when you’re a kid – is possible. If you really, really want something, I believe that you’ll always be able to make a way for it to happen. It’s something that for me, personally, has been a big part of my childhood. A lot of people said that it’s not possible to reach F1, but the key people that I listen to in my life… My dad is somebody that said I could do anything I wanted if I really wanted to. I think that’s probably the best thing, through my childhood being from New Zealand, a lot of my friends gave up on their dream because they didn’t think it was possible… I’m glad that I had somebody telling me that.

We’ve seen that you like tuning cars as well… If you had to trust one other driver in the paddock to tune a car for you, who would you choose and why?

There’s not one! There’s not a person… I don’t think there’s one in this whole paddock that I would trust to tune my car. Simple answer. I couldn’t…

What’s your proudest moment in F1 so far?

Honestly, Austin [this season]. I would say Singapore last year, it was a highlight of my career and probably what put me in place at getting a seat now again this year. But Austin was… There was a lot of talk going into that weekend, the situation about myself coming into F1… It was a very cool thing to have a successful race like that.

Where do you want to be in five years’ time?

World champion!