F1 star left shaking after driving legendary car

Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon, Red Bull, Racing Bulls, Williams, Imola, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Goodwood Festival of Speed

F1 star left shaking after driving legendary car

Liam Lawson was at Goodwood this weekend

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 12 July 2026 23:14

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Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson has opened up on a 'special' moment at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, as he drove a piece of New Zealand motorsport history.

Lawson became only the 10th New Zealander ever to compete in an F1 grand prix when he made his debut at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, stepping in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo.

Since then, he has established himself as a full-time racer, and has been in great form for Racing Bulls in 2026, currently sat up in 10th in the drivers' championship with 39 points.

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But this weekend, Lawson was driving around in a different car to usual, with F1 having a week off before the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend.

Lawson was one of several F1 stars present at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, an iconic motorsport event which celebrates some of the most impressive modern and old sportscars.

The Goodwood hillclimb is one of the biggest features of the event, and a number of current F1 drivers took it on this weekend, including 2025 world champion Lando Norris in the new McLaren hypercar.

But Lawson completed a run up the hill in an iconic car linked with previous Le Mans success.

Lawson shaken up by legendary car drive

The Ford GT40 is one of the most well-known sportscars in history, and the No.2 Ford GT40 Mk.II was the machine in which New Zealand motorsport legends Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon won the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

McLaren was the founder of the eponymous F1 team which is still going strong today, but he unfortunately passed away aged just 32 after an incident at the Goodwood Circuit back in 1970.

For Lawson, driving around in the legendary car at Goodwood stirred up a lot of emotions, being the latest New Zealander to make it into F1 where McLaren won four grands prix across 13 seasons.

"Yeah, that's still shaking," Lawson said, looking at his hand. "Very, very special, obviously a lot of New Zealand history in this car and I got to drive something similar, I got to drive a road-going GT40 last year, and the whole time all I could think about was this car.

"I didn't expect to come here and drive it, I saw it today and I asked, I said 'can I please [drive it], that would be really really special' and the owner was kind enough to let me drive it so very very special.

"Everyone's out of their cars and I'm still sitting in it. I'll probably stay in here for a little bit."

F1 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls Goodwood Festival of Speed