Liam Lawson finds his race engineer for 2025 at Red Bull

An internal promotion for Richard Wood

Red Bull has chosen to trust one of its internal team members to support Liam Lawson in his rise. Richard Wood, who gained experience on the pit wall in 2024 when he temporarily replaced Hugh Bird, Perez’s usual race engineer, has been promoted to this key role permanently.

Richard Wood is a long-standing member of Red Bull. He first joined the team as a strategist before moving into simulation engineering and track support. Now, he takes on the responsibility of guiding the New Zealander within the Milton Keynes team.

A reorganization of the technical staff

This appointment is part of a larger restructuring at Red Bull. Following the departure of Jonathan Wheatley, the team has chosen to redistribute his responsibilities instead of directly replacing him. Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s race engineer, has thus expanded his role by taking charge of race operations.

Moreover, Steve Knowles has been appointed head of the sports division, a position that includes managing interactions with race management. On the strategic side, Will Courtenay will keep his spot on the pit wall for 2025, although his departure to McLaren is planned for mid-2026.

Red Bull ensures continuity

Despite these changes, Max Verstappen’s environment remains stable. His technical team, including control systems engineer Michael Manning, remains unchanged. Red Bull has confirmed that Manning will continue his crucial work on Verstappen’s starts, even though there were some rumors about his departure.

This reorganization demonstrates Red Bull’s intention to consolidate its technical staff for the upcoming seasons. For Liam Lawson, this structure should allow him to develop in a solid and experienced environment from his first full year in Formula 1.