The last time a Kiwi driver scored points on the famed streets of Monte Carlo was in 1973, when Denny Hulme finished sixth for McLaren.

With his performance, Lawson becomes only the fourth New Zealander to score points in Monaco during a world championship race, joining Hulme, Chris Amon, and Bruce McLaren.

The breakthrough couldn’t have come at a better moment for the 23-year-old, who has endured a tough start to his first full F1 season.

After beginning the year with the senior Red Bull team, Lawson was demoted after just two races due to underwhelming results and returned to the Racing Bulls outfit for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Since then, he has struggled to match the form of rookie teammate Isack Hadjar, going scoreless in his five races with the team.

That changed in Monaco, where a clean weekend and a team-first strategy, designed to support Hadjar, also worked in Lawson’s favour to deliver his first points of the season.

“It’s always nice to come away with points, which isn’t the easiest around Monaco,” Lawson said post-race.

“Everything came together nicely this weekend, and we executed the race perfectly.

“The pace has been there for a few races now, so it was good to show it this weekend.”

Looking ahead to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Lawson acknowledged the challenges posed by the new front wing regulations being introduced for the race, but hopes the team can carry the momentum forward.

“We’ll aim to keep the momentum going,” Lawson said.

“It’s a very different kind of track, and we will need to get on top of the regulation changes, we will need to adapt as quickly as possible.”

Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme are the only New Zealand drivers to win the Monaco Grand Prix, doing so in 1962 and 1967 respectively.

The last New Zealander to race at the Monaco Grand Prix before Lawson was Brendon Hartley in 2018.