Liam Lawson has never made a secret of his Australasian roots, and the Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver is now making clear that those roots run deep enough to dream of one day trading the streets of a grand prix circuit for the mountain at Bathurst. The New Zealand-born racer has expressed genuine interest in competing in the Supercars Championship at some point in his career, adding his name to a growing list of F1 drivers who are casting their eyes beyond the boundaries of the world’s premier single-seater series.
A Natural Connection to Supercars
For Lawson, the interest in Supercars is not simply a passing curiosity. Growing up in New Zealand and cutting his teeth through Australasian motorsport before climbing the Red Bull junior programme, the series carries real cultural and personal weight. The Supercars Championship is the dominant tin-top series across the Tasman and commands enormous followings in both Australia and New Zealand, making it a logical and emotionally meaningful target for a driver with Lawson’s background.
Lawson has indicated that Supercars is a championship he would love to try, and while no concrete deal or timeline has been confirmed, the sentiment reflects a driver who is thinking carefully about the kind of racing career he wants to build. For many drivers, Formula 1 is the summit, but the summit does not always satisfy every competitive itch, particularly when the cars and formats are so different from the thundering, door-to-door combat that defines Supercars racing.
F1 Drivers Looking Beyond the Pit Lane
Lawson’s interest arrives in the context of a broader and increasingly visible trend. In 2025, a growing number of Formula 1 drivers have sought racing opportunities outside of their grand prix commitments. Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll are among those who have pursued GT racing, with frustration over the incoming 2026 F1 technical regulations cited as part of the motivation to explore different machinery and different kinds of competition.
The 2026 regulations represent one of the most significant technical overhauls in the sport’s modern era, introducing new power unit architecture and revised aerodynamic philosophies that have generated considerable debate within the paddock. For drivers who thrive on variety and are unsatisfied with periods of reduced competitiveness, other championships offer an outlet, a way to stay sharp and satiated while the F1 world resets itself around new rules.
Lawson joining this conversation is significant. He is a young driver still establishing himself at the front end of his F1 career, yet he is already thinking expansively about what motorsport can offer beyond the calendar of grands prix. It speaks to a generation of racers who view their careers not as a single-track journey but as a broader exploration of what racing can be.
Supercars Has Always Had Room for International Stars
The Supercars Championship has a well-established history of welcoming international talent, particularly through wildcard entries and the endurance co-driver market. The Bathurst 1000, the series’ crown jewel and one of the most iconic events in world motorsport, has long attracted drivers from Formula 1, sports cars, and touring car series around the globe. The combination of Mount Panorama’s unforgiving layout, the endurance format, and the sheer spectacle of the event makes it one of the bucket-list races for any serious racing driver.
A Lawson appearance at Bathurst, even as a one-off wildcard or endurance co-driver entry, would generate enormous interest across both the F1 and Supercars fanbases. His profile has risen considerably since making his full-time F1 debut, and bringing that kind of international attention to an already passionate local event would be a compelling proposition for any Supercars team willing to build around him.
The logistics are not without complication. The Supercars calendar and the Formula 1 schedule overlap in ways that can make standalone entries difficult to arrange, and an F1 team’s contractual and insurance requirements can complicate a driver’s ability to compete in other series. But these are not insurmountable obstacles, as Verstappen and others have demonstrated in recent seasons.
What It Would Mean for Lawson and the Sport
For Lawson personally, a Supercars outing would represent a homecoming of sorts. It would connect his current life at the sharp end of global motorsport with the regional racing culture that helped shape him as a competitor. There is something deeply appealing about that kind of narrative, a Formula 1 driver returning to the part of the world that first gave him a stage and doing so in a series that demands a completely different set of skills.
Supercars cars are heavy, powerful, and deeply physical to drive. They reward feel, aggression, and adaptability in ways that differ markedly from the precision and aerodynamic sensitivity of a modern F1 car. For a driver looking to broaden his experience and prove himself across different disciplines, there are few better tests available in the Southern Hemisphere.
Whether Lawson’s interest translates into actual laps on Australian tarmac remains to be seen, but the desire is real and the context makes it entirely believable. As Formula 1 heads toward a new regulatory era and drivers increasingly look for ways to diversify their racing lives, the idea of a New Zealand F1 driver lining up on the grid at Bathurst feels less like a fantasy and more like an inevitability. If and when it happens, it will be a story worth watching very closely.