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Kiwi driver, Liam Lawson, who replaced Ricciardo in F1 has called out rival McLaren for playing the British national anthem after race wins when the team was founded by a New Zealander.
F1 upstart Liam Lawson has called out world-championship leader McLaren saying it should be playing the New Zealand national anthem when it wins races – not the British.
Lawson – who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at the Visa Cash App RB (VCARB) F1 team for October’s US Grand Prix onwards – has taken vehement objection to McLaren identifying as a British team.
“It’s complete bulls***, that’s what it is,” he told The Red Flags Podcast in an interview recorded ahead of the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil where he finished ninth.
Podium celebrations in F1 see the national anthem of the first-placed driver played, as well as the national anthem of the country the winning constructor is from.
The Sao Paulo weekend saw Australia’s Oscar Piastri gift a Sprint race win to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris – with British national anthem God Save the King played for the constructors’ victory.
McLaren was formed in 1963 by Bruce McLaren – born in Auckland, New Zealand – after the Kiwi moved to Europe to pursue his motor racing career.
The team entered Grand Prix racing in 1966 having adopted the racing colour of Papaya Orange – still used on its current F1 cars alongside its logo, a stylised Kiwi bird, New Zealand’s national bird.
Yet the national anthem of the United Kingdom (UK) plays whenever McLaren – now based in Woking, England – scores a race win, with Piastri and Norris both scoring their first career Grand Prix victories with the team this year.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
“Mate… [it] makes no sense … it’s a New Zealand team. The name is still McLaren,” said Lawson, who was born in Hastings on the county’s north island, told The Red Flags Podcast.
“Red Bull play the Austrian national anthem and the team’s based in the UK. McLaren’s based in the UK, but it’s a New Zealand team – it’s complete bulls***.”
Six of F1’s current 10 teams are based in the UK, with Haas officially sharing its headquarters between US and UK bases effectively a seventh.
As part of the British Commonwealth, New Zealand shared its national anthem with the UK until it was given its own in 1977 – God Defend New Zealand – as a second anthem alongside the UK anthem.
This was well after Bruce McLaren’s death in 1970 – the Aucklander aged only 32 – and a decade after New Zealander Denny Hulme won the 1967 drivers’ world championship in a Brabham.
Lawson first raced in F1 at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix as a sub for an injured Ricciardo and then replaced the Australian who was dumped by the team for the final six races of 2024.
With a spot in F1 not assured for 2025, Lawson’s F1 career hinges on how he performs for the rest of the season as he looks to cement his current place at VCARB or replace an under-pressure Sergio Perez as team-mate to Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
