Racing
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Liam Lawson said he had to fly back to New Zealand after the Japanese Grand Prix to urgently renew a passport that had run out of pages, with the Racing Bulls driver admitting the issue should have been handled before the 2026 Formula 1 season began.
For a driver whose job depends on moving from country to country without interruption, it was an unusually avoidable problem. Lawson, 24, had already made it through preseason testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, then the opening run of races in Australia, China and Suzuka, before finally dealing with the document after Japan.
That timing mattered because the early part of Lawson's season was already compressed. Formula 1's travel demands are relentless in any year, but his opening stretch included winter testing followed by three races in four weekends. By the time Suzuka was done, the passport issue could no longer wait.
Lawson said the situation could have become more complicated if the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix had taken place on their original mid-April dates. Rather than renewing the passport before the campaign, he was left sorting it out once the season was already in motion, turning a basic piece of admin into a potential travel headache.
Speaking to RacingNews365 in a media session, Lawson laughed at his own role in creating the problem. “That's my preparation and sort of organisational skills that are highlighted there. I probably should have done it before the season,” he said.
The trip home at least carried one benefit. Lawson said he ended up staying in New Zealand a little longer and got to spend extra time with his family after the rush of testing and the first races. Once the passport was renewed, he said the immediate problem was solved.
“I ended up staying in New Zealand a little bit longer, with my family, so it was good,” Lawson said. He added that with the replacement document in hand, he was “good for another five years”.
For Lawson, the episode had nothing to do with pace, setup or racecraft, but it still underlined how thin the margins can be at the start of an F1 season. A simple delay off track nearly threatened his ability to move smoothly through a calendar that leaves little room for mistakes, especially as Racing Bulls and its drivers push through one of the busiest stretches of the year.