Liam Lawson has marked his Formula One return with a points finish, taking ninth place at the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

In his first Grand Prix since October last year, the Kiwi showed no signs of rust at the Circuit of the Americas, and put in an impressive display from the back of the grid.

Driving for Racing Bulls, the 22-year-old showed maturity beyond his years to manage a 37-lap stint on hard tyres, before pitting and finishing the race on the faster medium compound.

And despite a late threat from Williams’ Franco Colapinto, Lawson drove home to take two vital points as he bids to impress his Red Bull bosses in the hunt for a 2025 seat.

The result sees Lawson equal his career-best Formula One finish, which he achieved at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

“Holy s***, how did we do that,” Lawson was heard saying on his post-race audio.

“Good job, thank you everybody. It was just a really complete car, so thank you very much for the hard work, and for preparing me for this.

“I appreciate it.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started fourth on the grid, but quickly took the lead from the first corner, and didn’t relent to take the chequered flag.

Teammate Carlos Sainz finished second, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen landed a vital blow in the drivers championship by beating Lando Norris after a controversial late incident that saw the McLaren driver hit with a five-second penalty.

Lawson’s Red Bull stablemate Sergio Perez finished seventh, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda could only manage 14th after starting in 10th.

The three drivers are all vying to impress Red Bull, with no certainty given over Verstappen’s teammate for 2025 and beyond.

Starting from the back row after engine penalties, Lawson was given an early boost by Mercedes’ George Russell forced to begin the Grand Prix from pit lane to repair the damage suffered in qualifying.

In an opening incident that saw Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Lawson made the most of his rivals’ misfortune and climbed from 19th to 14th by the end of the first lap.

Those five places made up on that first lap by Lawson were only equalled by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who rose from 17th to 12th.

However, when Hamilton put his Mercedes in the gravel and was forced to retire on the third lap, Lawson rose one place higher to 13th as a safety car was called.

When the safety car ended two laps later, Lawson added Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin to his list of overtakes, and rose to 12th - two places outside a points finish.

In Sunday’s sprint, the Kiwi and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso clashed as Lawson overtook the 43-year-old. A day later, Lawson did the same again, making full use of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) before braking late into turn 12, to get the better of the Spaniard and move up to 11th.

As cars in front started to pit, Lawson was overtaken by Russell - who was hit by a five-second penalty for forcing Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas off the track.

More and more pits saw Lawson hold seventh place, until he pitted for the medium tyre to see him finish faster than the 11 cars ahead of him.

The faster tyres saw Lawson overtake Gasly, before Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was forced into a second stop that took the Kiwi back into the points. And when Franco Colapinto of Williams pitted on lap 41 for the mediums, Lawson moved to ninth.

Colapinto was the last driver to pit, and finished on faster tyres than Lawson. However the gap was too much for the Argentine to overcome, as the Kiwi crossed the line with over a second to spare.

The two-point haul sees Lawson move to 20th in the championship standings, ahead of Sauber pair Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas. Finishing ahead of Norris has increased Verstappen’s lead in the driver’s standings to 57 points, while McLaren’s lead at the top of the constructors championship is 40 points with five races remaining.

Lawson will look to build on his two-point haul next weekend, as Formula One heads to Mexico City.

Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.