Peter Windsor: Former Williams and Ferrari executive on Liam Lawson retaining his spot at Racing Bulls for 2026

A mentoring role for Liam Lawson in the 2026 Formula 1 season. 

The New Zealand driver has retained his spot in Racing Bulls alongside 18-year-old debutant Arvid Lindblad. 

Lawson had been vying for the vacant seat with demoted Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, following Isack Hadjar's promotion to the parent team. 

Former Williams and Ferrari executive Peter Windsor told Mike Hosking Lawson's the best fit for the requirements. 

He says Liam will flourish in a senior role and it’ll bring out the best in him.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the funny old world of Formula One. The good
news Liam Lawson survives his debut season. Of course he
stays with Racing Balls for twenty six C. He is
to be joined by Avid Lindblad. Isaac Hedger gets the
promotion to rid Ball next to Max for Steppen. Of course,
Peter Winter, former Ferrari in William's man is beck. Well,
there's Peter morning to you. Good morning now we use yeah,

(00:20):
thank you. Were you surprised for a while there? If
you go back a few weeks that was it was
touch and go, wasn't It could have gone either way.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
I'm not so sure it could have. Actually, I think
it was pretty clear mid season there we're going to
run Zaki jar alongside Max for Stappen, and also pretty
clear that they were keen on lind Blad. And if
you're going to run lind Blad at Racing Bulls, who
are you going to put him next to Yuki Sonoda
or Liam Lawson. Much better to put him next to
Liam Lawson. For sure they'll get on. Well, he'll learn

(00:52):
from Liam and Liam I think will flourish now a
in a senior role in the team with a young
rookie alongside him. I think I'll be best out in
Liam and anyway, I think Liam's driving it's become a
little bit more polished over the last six months, whereas
Yuki Sonoda is basically sunk without trace. So for me
it's not a surprise and I don't think there was

(01:13):
much choice in it. Really. To me, it's pretty logical.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
What's the risk in Lindblad being so young and inexperienced.
I mean, say whatever you want about Yuki. At least
he's been there a while.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
No no risk at all. But there's no downside in
running him in the Racing Bulls team. It's their second team,
it's their B division team. They've got lots of young
drivers under contract, lots of them all over the world.
He's one that they really think is a future star.
So you know he's ready to be put in the
Formula One car and there's no risk there at all.
What's no pressure on him really? Every time he gets

(01:47):
near Liam, people will think, wow, he's doing a great job.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
How does this work given you've been on the inside,
Because if you look at results, Lindbladd isn't that successful
en F two. There are others that if you looked
just purely on paper, are faster drivers with better results?
What do they see in him?

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well, it's a very very good question. I was watching
linn Blad's body language after an F two race quite recently,
and he just he just looked like a Formula one
driver that was very confident. It's just his mannerisms and
the way he was conducting himself. He didn't look like
a young kid rookie. He looked like somebody who knew
where he was going. And I suspect there's a bit
of that red bull, but quite susceptible to star quality.

(02:31):
Should we should we call it that rather than just
sheer driving talent and studying of technique. And so I
think he fits the red bull mold, as does Liam,
you know, and the way Liam presents himself. And if
you look at a guy like leonardoor forna Oli, for example,
who just won the Formula two championship and only Scott
a McLaren deal now, but it's the first Formula one

(02:52):
deal he's had for a long time, nobody was really
interested in him. He's he's a lot less glamorous than
Linn Blad, And so I think it's that, you know,
it's sad to say. I think it's that. I think
there's a lot of glamour in the way Red Bull
do their choices and work with young drivers, and that's
part of the whole Netflix Formula One is a business
as much as it's a show these days. And yeah,

(03:14):
I mean little lad he may be very, very good,
but he's certainly you know, he's certainly gone a lot
going for from a Red Bull perspective in terms of
his is the way he presents himself.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
What have you made of Liam? The season has bounced
back from the Red Bull the motion and where does
he go next year? Do you think?

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Well, yeah, I mean I did predict that it would
be very difficult for him alongside is zach Haja last
time we spoke, and because I think Isak is just
a class driver who gets into corners a little bit earlier.
He's got the finesse and touch that enables him to
do that. It's not just a question of choosing a
different line. He actually has a suppleness and a touch
about his driving that is reminiscent of some qualities of

(03:54):
Max Fistappen and Charlie Clerk. He's very very talented, but
I think is a sort of Carlos Sits type driver.
He gets in a bit later to the corner. He
likes to get the rear loaded up. He's got great
car control, great balance, and I think the second half
of this year he's done what Carlos Sites started to do.
He's looked at what he can do in a race

(04:14):
car and he said, right, this is about the way
I'm going to drive the rest of my life. Now
I'm going to try and polish that and make sure
I make fewer mistakes. I'm more adaptable to different conditions,
to the variables, and here I will be for the
next four or five years. I mean, I think, to
be honest, his only future is at Red Bull. I
can't imagine he's going to get a drive somewhere else
if he loses the Red Bull drive at the end

(04:36):
of twenty six. But I'm sure he's not thinking about
anything more than the next couple of months. At the moment.
Most racing people only think about three months ahead.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
The interesting thing about it is, of course the hedger.
I concur with what you say about his talent, But
do we know what he's in next year? By way
of a car. Does anybody know what their car is
next to you?

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Well, no, they don't any more than we know what
the McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari are going to be.
Nobody knows because it's a completely new regulation, completely new car,
totally different sort of car, and completely new power unit
as well, fifty percent electric power unit. So nobody knows,
and none of the engineers have a clue about what
the opposition are doing. They can only focus on their

(05:18):
own car. And we probably won't even know after the
first test because a lot of teams will be playing
around with bits and bobs. We won't know really until
we get to the first race where we actually stand.
And so lots of people love to make comments and
rumors about this power unit or that power unit, but
nobody knows. That's the bottom line. Red Bull could have
a great, great car next year. They may not, but

(05:40):
they could. They could have a you know, the equivalent
of a McLaren.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
Interesting, Peter, always good to catch up, appreciate it very much.
We'll get John again too, And Peter Windsor, who is
a foremost.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
To talk to you, thank you nowhere is.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
At all Ferrari and William's interesting comments about Mawson and
his his future over the next four or five years.
He's basically with Redbulls.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
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