Liam Lawson's dad makes emotional admission after Kiwi secures F1 future

Liam Lawson's father has responded with an emotional statement after the news that his son has finally signed a contract to race in F1 again in 2027.

The 24-year-old New Zealander has had by far the best season of his career in 2026, comfortably outperforming rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad and regularly competing for decent points hauls, but was left waiting for a long time to find out whether he'd be back next year.

Ultimately, those performances proved enough for Racing Bulls to extend his contract for another season, with young Red Bull prospect Nikola Tsolov now having to wait until at least 2028 to get a top-flight racing seat.

The team had been roundly criticised for taking so long to extend their best driver's deal, with Lawson himself admitting that he was having a tough time racing through the uncertainty, and the Kiwi's father has now spoken about his son's new deal.

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Jared Lawson: Son's performances too good to ignore

Jared Lawson told 1News: "I kind of had an inkling that it was coming, but you never know. He's done and performed so well, it's almost like, how could he not?"

"I don't think anything's ever been handed to him," he added.

"For him it's all about remaining on the grid and becoming F1 world champion. That's his goal."

He continued: "Despite all the pressure, all the noise going around, he has performed. He's extracted, I think, pretty much the most out of that car."

New Zealand appears to have wrapped its arms around its fastest man, with Jared adding that the comments he sees on social media "just brings it home how many people are watching and behind him, and just proud that we've got someone racing there".

Of course, New Zealand sport could use a sporting boost at the moment, with the All Blacks losing to Wales for the first time in 73 years on Saturday in Cardiff, a spirited Welsh side putting in a gutsy defensive effort to take a 35-28 win in the Nations Championship game.

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