F1 star Liam Lawson has ensured he will be public enemy number one this weekend at Albert Park in Melbourne after making it emphatically known he isn’t Australian.

The Kiwi, 23, is often mistaken for being an Aussie – and the Red Bull Racing driver was quick to address the ‘issue.’

‘The amount of times somebody has asked me, ‘Isn’t New Zealand just part of Australia?’,’ he said at Friday’s practice session.

‘Isn’t that the worst thing ever?’

Lawson took the seat of Perth born Daniel Ricciardo in the back end of 2024 – and then in the off-season became Red Bull’s replacement for Mexican driver Sergio Perez.

In a pinch me moment, Lawson will compete alongside teammate and four-time champion Max Verstappen.

Kiwi F1 star Liam Lawson has ensured he will be public enemy number one this weekend at Albert Park after making it emphatically known he isn’t Australian

Liam Lawson’s girlfriend is American Hannah St John, with the couple an item since October of 2022

Happy to play the villain, Lawson was urged to finish an ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie’ chant, but refused to do so.

‘I’m not doing it,’ he said. ‘I’m from New Zealand. ‘We’ve got red stars, not white stars on our flag.’ 

Meanwhile, Lawson has revealed the incredible sacrifices his parents made as he chased his F1 dream, starting out as a karting driver.

‘They still don’t own a house because of me,’ he told GQ.

‘I think I complained to my dad for more than a year about my kart. I’d tell him that the engine sucked but he just secretly thought that I sucked.

‘Eventually he got sick of me whining and bought two good engines, and we put them on for the first time at this big race.

‘And when we went out, we qualified first. We started racing at the front all the time. 

‘That was the definitive moment, when karting became serious.

‘It was always serious to me. But for my dad, everything changed that one weekend.’

Qualifying for Sunday’s race begins at 4pm AEDT on Saturday, with the main race at 3pm on Sunday.