(Motorsport-Total.com) – Just twelve months ago, two-thirds of the Oceanic drivers in Formula 1 could have quite easily felt sorry for themselves. Liam Lawson had his dream of a Red Bull cockpit taken away after just two races, while Jack Doohan was left on the sidelines at the start of the European season.
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The Australian had just lost his Alpine cockpit to Franco Colapinto – after only seven Grand Prix starts. Lawson was sent back to the Racing Bulls, which in itself was not a dishonorable fate. But the circumstances of Lawson’s demotion were.
The New Zealander was promoted to the Red Bull line-up and got an RB21, which he rarely seemed to have fully under control. Being dropped again after the races in Melbourne and Shanghai, having qualified 18th once and last once in his two appearances for the team, was a huge setback.
The reasons for the change were already evident during the pre-season tests, where Red Bull already had doubts about Lawson’s pace and he was up to a second per lap slower than teammate Max Verstappen.
Instead of attributing this to a fundamental design philosophy that makes Red Bull’s car line extremely difficult to drive for everyone except a certain four-time world champion, Lawson was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda – who struggled with similar problems throughout the year.
Formula 1 drivers who were dismissed during the current season
In May, Colapinto contested his first race for Alpine and reached Q2, but only because he drove his car into a gravel trap. Those who believed Doohan had not been given enough time immediately pounced on Colapinto and used the occasional crashes of the Argentine as a point of criticism.
Both Lawson and Colapinto therefore had a lot to prove in 2026, after they could perhaps consider themselves a bit lucky to still be in Formula 1 this season at all. They were given a second chance – and they grabbed it.
The new momentum of the New Zealander
It took a few races before the first signs of recovery appeared in Lawson’s 2025 season. It was probably a satisfaction for him to beat Tsunoda in qualifying at Suzuka, given the Japanese driver’s public jabs, but compared to Isack Hadjar in the other Racing Bulls car, he was still about two tenths slower.
For much of the first half of the season, Lawson had to accept playing second fiddle behind the Frenchman, who caused a stir in Formula 1 with his strong qualifying pace.
But Lawson celebrated his first internal team victory in Austria, qualified as the best driver from the Red Bull camp in sixth place, and defended this position with a clever one-stop strategy while withstanding pressure from Fernando Alonso.
There were enough strong moments to secure him another chance in the Faenza team. Points in Belgium and Hungary as well as a third place start in the rainy qualifying in Baku, which eventually resulted in fifth place, his best Formula 1 result so far.
While his new teammate Arvid Lindblad attracted attention at the start of the 2026 season after scoring points immediately in Australia, Lawson’s race was ruined by starting problems that plagued several drivers in Melbourne.
Nevertheless, he finished seventh in both the sprint and the Grand Prix in China, was ninth in Japan, and spent almost the entire race in Montreal holding off Pierre Gasly.
A repeat of their incident in Miami – caused by Lawson’s gearbox failure – did not occur. It was a quiet but impressive start to the season, especially in Canada, considering he missed almost all of Friday due to a hydraulic problem.
Colapinto lets actions speak
If there is a first impression of Colapinto, it is that the 23-year-old Argentine loves to talk. At his first FIA press conference in Baku 2024, he could hardly believe he was allowed to talk about his day in front of an audience.
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But he is also fast – which may have been forgotten in a difficult year with Alpine, also due to his tendency to overdrive at crucial moments. This was already observed at Williams: In his first races in Monza and Baku, he got a car that worked excellently on such tracks and probably thought Formula 1 was quite easy.
On “more normal” tracks, however, the Williams was much harder to drive. Colapinto failed to repeat the magic of Azerbaijan – both literally and figuratively.
Helmut Marko is said to have considered making an offer to Williams for Colapinto at the time but withdrew when the Argentine drove up the team’s repair costs at the end of 2024.
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Flavio Briatore, on the other hand, took the opportunity and brought Colapinto to Enstone as a reserve driver. It was obvious that Doohan had to fight for his cockpit, and his future was questioned even before the start of the 2025 season.
For Colapinto, it was a learning season, but without the foundation of pre-season tests. The Alpine was underdeveloped by design, although Gasly was occasionally able to achieve decent results. Colapinto’s results were not outstanding in comparison, but to his credit, he finished every Grand Prix he started.
That does not mean he made no mistakes. Imola was already mentioned, plus accidents in qualifying in Silverstone, at a tire test in Hungary, in qualifying in Baku, and in the sprint in Sao Paulo. Overall, this added up, and at times his seat seemed in jeopardy.
This season, he has not made these mistakes so far. In the recent races in Miami and Montreal, he was faster than Gasly, who himself had strong moments in 2026. It helps that Alpine has built a truly competitive car for the first time in years, closing the gap between the top teams and the midfield, and Colapinto has found new confidence.
In Montreal, there was a tense moment on the way to sixth place when he brushed the wall in turn 2 with his front wing after the pit stop. But that cost him hardly any time – at least after he realized the damage was not critical.
As with Lawson, this is a remarkable development, especially since he missed most of Friday due to a power unit problem.
Room for improvement for both
As convincing as Lawson and Colapinto have been so far this season, there are still areas where they need to improve. For Lawson, it is about consistent qualifying pace. On Saturdays, his performance fluctuates greatly, and he can both make the top 10 and be eliminated early.
The New Zealander needs to find this consistency and develop an approach that reduces the large performance fluctuations. His car is on average good enough for the front end of Q2. That should be the minimum goal every weekend.
For Colapinto, it is mainly a few tenths per lap missing in race trim, especially on the harder tires. That was already a problem in 2025, and although he looked good on the hard tires in Montreal, that needs to become the norm.
He has beaten Gasly in qualifying in the last two races, and the Frenchman suspects a fundamental problem with his car that limits performance on a fast lap. But in the race, Colapinto is still missing a little pace in comparison.
For both drivers, the entry into Formula 1 was not easy. However, if they can maintain their form throughout 2026, they are well positioned – and could even become sought-after names on the driver market for 2027.
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