Francesca Rudkin: Liam Lawson's success is something to be celebrated

How good is the news about Liam Lawson.

Regardless of whether you’re a Sergio Perez fan, what you think of Max Verstappen as a teammate, or of Liam Lawson as a driver – he has achieved something extraordinary, something a select few accomplish, and secured himself a coveted F1 seat for 2025.

This is truly something to be celebrated.

We’ve always struggled as New Zealanders to know how to deal with Kiwis who have great success. We love our poppies to a point, and then we tend to tear them down, or at least knock them about a bit. Just ask them. So while I don’t propose a seismic cultural shift and lose our generally humble and down to earth attitude, I do think a shift in how we acknowledge success would be a good thing.

If we’re to become the best little country in the world, we need people, in whatever field they are in, to aspire to be the best. And yes, that sometimes requires talking yourself up to be a winner.

Liam Lawson knows better than anyone the environment he’s heading into - the money, politics, publicity, and egos involved. No team is going to pick the guy who says, ‘yeah, if there’s a space available, I’d love it’. They want someone who says, ‘I can do this, I want to be the best and I will do what it takes on and off the track’.

To be a successful F1 driver you need an extraordinary amount of confidence in yourself and your ability.

It is a mental game as much as a physical and technical one.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame podcast
from News.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Talks at be How good is the news about Liam Lawson?
Regardless of whether you're a Sergio Perez fan, whether you
think max Is Stuppan as a teammate, as a what
you think of him as a teammate, or of Liam
Lawson as a driver, he has achieved something extraordinary, something
is select few accomplish, and secured himselves a coveted F

(00:34):
one seat for twenty twenty five. This is truly something
to be celebrated. We've always struggled as New Zealanders to
know how to deal with kiwi's who have great success.
We love our poppies to a point and then we
tend to tear them down, or at least knock them
a little bit, just ask them. So. While I don't

(00:54):
propose a seismic cultural shift and lose our generally humble
and down to earth attitude, I do think a shift
in how we acknowledge success would be a good thing.
If we are to become the best little country in
the world, we need people in whatever field they'rein to
aspire to be the best, and yes, that sometimes requires
talking yourself up. To be a winner. Liam Lawson knows

(01:16):
better than anyone the environment he's heading into, the money,
the politics, publicity, and the egos involved. No team is
going to pick the guy that says, oh yeah, if
there's a space available, I'd love it. They want someone
who says I can do this. I want to be
the best and I will do what it takes on
and off the track. To be a successful if one driver,
you need an extraordinary amount of confidence in yourself and

(01:38):
your ability. It's a mental game as much as a
physical and technical one. In response to the announcement, Liam
Lawson said, to be announced as an Oracle Red Bull
Racing driver is a lifelong dream for me. This is
something I've wanted and worked towards since i was eight
years old. And it reminded me of a conversation that
I had with Kiwi IndyCar driver Marcus Armstrong, another great

(01:59):
young man. I asked him why New Zealand drivers were
doing so well around the world when they often don't
have the money or connections to help them, and he
said to me that it's because we sacrifice so much
to do it. We must succeed. It makes us want
to be the best Lim has wanted this since he
was eight. Marcus left New Zealand at twelve to follow

(02:21):
his dream. Their success is in a fluke. A lot
of people have helped them get to where they are,
but ultimately them behind the wheel making things happen. Their
role models for other young kiwis encouraging them to be audacious,
to dream big and just go for it. So to
all the haters who came out online and had to
go at Liam Lawson after Red Bull's decision to hire him,
I say, Merry Christmas, No one cares. I for one

(02:45):
can't wait for the twenty twenty five season to kick
off and how much more fun is it going to
be to have a young Kiwi to support.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
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