Liam Lawson on Honda Talon test drive: “It’s so fun”

August 7, 2025

Liam Lawson’s rookie season in Formula One was looking like a disaster early on. He was booted from Red Bull Racing after just two rounds and only a single race where he finished inside the points by mid-June. Since being knocked out of the Canadian Grand Prix, however, he seems to have regained his footing with three points finishes over the next four races.

Isn’t it a funny coincidence that he’s hitting his stride not long after test driving the Honda Talon 1000R? We’re not saying it’s a lucky charm, especially since he retired from the first race after said test, but we’re just saying.

In the days leading up to the Canadian GP in June, Lawson was invited by Honda—the engine supplier for Red Bull and Racing Bulls—to try out the Talon. Honda released footage of the session that month, but the American subsidiary dropped a behind-the-scenes video on Tuesday with extended clips and testimonials.

The Talon is Honda’s primary performance UTV and currently used by Red Bull Honda Talon Factory Racing in American desert racing. The energy drink company and Lawson’s employer came aboard as a title sponsor in June as Corbin Leaverton is also a Red Bull athlete. Leaverton won his class in his Talon debut at the Mint 400 in March and at the Baja 500 a month later.

While Lawson has spent his entire professional career on pavement, he’s no stranger to ripping it off road back home in New Zealand.

He was especially receptive to how the Talon handled.

“Straight away, I get a kick of adrenaline and then I just can’t help it,” Lawson commented in the BTS video. “It’s easy to drive. Paddles are a lot more like responsive than I thought. Power is more than I was expecting, to be honest, it was fast. The good thing is the ratios are short so you can use a lot of gears. I was expecting to be in just one or two gears, but third, fourth, fifth, through the lap, it absorbs the bumps really nice. It’s easy to pitch and get some front end. Just really controllable.

“[…] It’s so fun. It’s just really controllable, way easier to pitch and point where I need to go. You can come in on the rear, you can lock the rears on the way in, and just rotate before you’ve even steered and just slide in. Traction’s really good; off the corner, just bites and goes.

“[…] I wasn’t expecting to get such an adrenaline kick, to be honest. So much fun. One of the most fun things I’ve done.”

Lawson is currently 15th in the F1 standings.

While he’s still young and the 2025 season is barely past halfway, if this single-seater stuff doesn’t work out, maybe we can convince him to pull a Sonny Hayes and try out Baja.