Lawson Admits He's Been Told Off for Swearing on Team Radio

1lessidiot
Lawson Admits He's Been Told Off for Swearing on Team Radio

Liam Lawson's reputation for heated outbursts has been a talking point since his early days in F1, but the Racing Bulls driver reckons he's made real progress in keeping his cool this season. The Kiwi recently hit a milestone at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with his 50th race start, and he's been reflecting on how his approach to the cockpit has matured over time.

More F1 news: Verstappen Admits F1 is Less Stressful Without Horner in the Paddock

During the Singapore Grand Prix press conference, Lawson was asked about a study ranking drivers by how much they swear on the radio. The results showed him coming in seventh out of 22 drivers, and he didn't hold back when admitting he's copped some criticism for his colourful language in the past. "I've been told off in the past for it, so I feel like I've been a lot better this year," Lawson said. "I feel like I've been quite calm in general recently." He joked that finishing seventh was worse than he expected, suggesting he thought he'd be lower on the list.

Whether the telling-off came from Racing Bulls or Red Bull further up the chain remains unclear, but it's clearly had an impact on Lawson's approach. He's not alone in having his radio communications scrutinised either. Yuki Tsunoda, who used to share the Racing Bulls garage with Lawson, was told to study how Oscar Piastri handles himself on the radio after his own string of frustrated outbursts.

More F1 news: Lawson Shows Champion Mettle by Standing Up to Verstappen at Malaysia

The study itself makes for interesting reading, with Alpine's Pierre Gasly leading the swearing charts between 2018 and 2026, followed by Max Verstappen at Red Bull and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari. On the flip side, Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon rank among the calmest communicators over that period. Meanwhile, Red Bull's latest recruit Isack Hadjar got particularly heated during last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, with several tense exchanges with his race engineer during the action.

More F1 news: Hamilton's Heart Sank When Ferrari Ignored His Tyre Call at Sepang

Lawson's willingness to acknowledge he's been pulled up for his radio behaviour shows a driver willing to learn and adapt. For a pilot who built his early reputation partly on those fiery moments, dialling it back while maintaining his competitive edge is a sign of genuine growth in the cockpit.

Shop the collection: Max Verstappen merch  •  Oscar Piastri merch  •  Charles Leclerc merch  •  Lewis Hamilton merch  •  Scuderia Ferrari merch  •  Red Bull Racing merch  •  VCARB merch  •  McLaren merch

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.