2019 EUROPEAN FORMULA OPEN
For the 2019 European season, Red Bull entered Liam was in two different championships – Euroformula Open, using the non-halo equipped Formula 3 cars, and FIA F3 – the debut season for the F3 halo car.
Due to a clash of calendar dates, Liam would be forced to miss two EFO rounds in favour of FIA F3.
Along with fellow Red Bull Junior Yuki Tsunoda, the pair raced for Team Motopark from Germany. Once again, Liam won on debut from P3 at Paul Ricard in France.
The series moved to Pau for the 78th Pau Grand Prix where Liam bagged pole and converted that into a runaway win in the first race by 16-seconds over 27 laps of the tight, twisty street circuit in the south of France.
Reflecting on the victory, one commentator pointed out he’d been coming to the Pau event for over 20 years and said it was the most dominant race performance he’d seen in that time, matched only by Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton’s win in 2005.
Liam’s victory in race one of the weekend was the first by a New Zealand driver since Mike Thackwell won in both 1984 and 1986.
The Grand Prix race did not go so well. With the field starting on slick tyres, rain came during the race and while in second place, and still on slick tyres, Liam’s race ended when he clashed with teammate Julian Hannes while trying an overtaking move.
A three place grid penalty at the next round at Hockenheim didn’t stop the young Kiwi from taking another podium, but the weekend will be remembered for that clash with teammate Yuki Tsunoda that put both Red Bull Juniors out of the race.
Liam returned to the podium in Hungary when he finished third in the opening race of the weekend and maintained his second place in the EFO Championship. A front-row start in race two disappeared when a delayed start saw the clutch of his car overheat, causing both of the Red Bull Junior Team cars to stall on the start line. Liam recovered to take the final championship point on offer by finishing in 10th place.
Liam returned to EFO for the Barcelona round, having missed two, and took another emphatic victory in the rain. Starting from grid 8 he stole the lead on the very last lap after a magnificent drive through the field.
A win the final race at Monza sealed runner-up in the championship and the top Rookie prize for the season. He needed to win the season finale to claim the runner-up spot and put on a superb display of driving, which came down to a two-lap dash and a frantic duel with Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda. He crossed the finish line 0.392-seconds ahead in a race where the lead changed numerous times and sealed his championship place by 3 points.
Liam scored 4 wins and 7 podiums for the season from the 14 races that he contested.
