That form is nothing short of an incredible turnaround from 12 months earlier, where Lawson was still coming to terms with his two-race demotion from Red Bull, as the rest of the year turned into a contest to retain his place at Racing Bulls – a race the Kiwi won over Yuki Tsunoda.
What’s more, returning to Miami also gives Lawson the chance to right the wrongs of 2025 – where he was harshly penalised and lost seventh place in the sprint race, and was taken out by Alpine’s Jack Doohan on the opening lap of the grand prix.
Speaking before practice and sprint qualifying on Saturday (NZ time), though, Lawson conceded he can’t rest on his laurels.
“Every time I get in the car, I try to do the best job I can,” he said. “Formula One is a sport of variables – there’s a lot that has to happen to have a successful weekend and successful year.
“This year has been working out quite well for us. It’s been a good start. [There’s] a lot of opportunity with these new cars, trying to be on top of it.
“We’ll try to keep that momentum going.”
Considering Formula One’s new regulations, and the chaos they’ve caused to start the 2026 season, Miami does prove to be an intriguing reset point.
Teams have been permitted to work on their cars over the course of the last month, albeit with no opportunity to test them on-track until this weekend.
As a result, the weekend’s one practice session has been extended from one hour to 90 minutes, to give teams the chance to learn as much as they can before sprint qualifying.
Racing Bulls will unveil a new aerodynamic package, with all 11 teams expected to have improved their cars in some way in the hope of matching runaway leaders Mercedes.
Considering that lack of ability to test on-track, though, only time will tell how effective those improvements will be.
“It’s really hard to know at this point,” said Lawson. “[The upgrades] are definitely positive, but I think a lot of teams will be bringing stuff here.
“To know exactly how it’s going to be is very tough. But I’m excited, obviously.
“This part of the year is about development, so we’re trying to bring stuff that’s better than everyone else.
“We’ll see how we go.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.