Max Verstappen and Red Bull have finally turned a corner in 2026 with two wins in the last two races, and Gary Anderson reckons it could have been down to Liam Lawson.

Despite being declared the best power unit on the grid under ADUO, Red Bull struggled to put together a competitive package at the start of 2026. The RB22 proved to be unreliable and unstable, with Verstappen having numerous spins and DNFs.

Verstappen has heavily criticised Red Bull and the car as he pushes to find improvements. Since the summer break, it seems that the team have made those strides forward, having grabbed pole position and the win in Malaysia and Singapore.

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Gary Anderson wonders if Liam Lawson made the RB22 more drivable with his knowledge from Racing Bulls

Red Bull’s resurgence has now left the F1 paddock worried about Verstappen returning to dominance. They are putting the pressure on McLaren for P3 in the constructors’ championship, sitting just seven points behind.

Interestingly, Bernie Collins thinks Lawson ‘saved’ McLaren by taking Isack Hadjar’s place in Zandvoort, Monza, and Madrid. She suggested that Red Bull would already be third if the Frenchman had not suffered his broken hand over the summer.

Lawson finished seventh in the Netherlands and sixth in Madrid, but could only manage 14th in Monza. Hadjar’s podium on his return in Baku suggests that he might have got the RB22 into better positions than his former Racing Bulls teammate did.

Alex Brundle says Lawson did not achieve anything ‘breakthrough’ during his cameo with Red Bull, but Gary Anderson wonders otherwise. The former F1 engineer is questioning if the New Zealander helped make the car more drivable.

“I think you’ve got to give him credit for that because he’s been out for a while. The one thing I do say is, with that change of direction with Isack Hadjar not there and Liam Lawson getting the drive, did he bring something to the package a little bit?

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“Maybe the drivability of the car from the Racing Bulls. His knowledge of what the Racing Bulls feels like, to try to explain to the Red Bull team about how maybe they’ve got themselves in a situation where the car is just too peaky, and you might need to back off a little bit.”

Since 2025, it has been said that the Racing Bulls is easier to drive than the Red Bull. Verstappen’s sensitive setup hampered the development of the second car, which explains why Sergio Perez, Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda all struggled.

Hadjar has brought some stability to the second car in 2026, but his former teammate may also have played a part in that.