Liam Lawson has revealed that he would be prepared to expand his horizons outside the Red Bull stable if it couldn’t provide his “dream” of a full-time Formula 1 drive.
Following a promising five-race stint with Red Bull’s sister squad deputising for the sidelined Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson’s desire is to secure a permanent place on the grid.
Despite some stellar outings during his stand-in appearances, Red Bull elected to retain Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo as the pairing for the rebranded RB squad.
The New Zealander, who has been demoted back to a reserve driver role, says that his ideal scenario would be to get into F1 through the Red Bull development scheme.
“Obviously, for me, the dream is to drive with Red Bull, and I’ve been with them now for more than five years,” Lawson explained.
“They’re the most competitive team in Formula 1 right now, so if I could choose, I would drive for them.
Nonetheless, Lawson warns that he won’t hesitate to look outside the Austrian outfit’s two entries to end up on the 2025 grid in the circumstance a space isn’t available.
“But my dream is to be in Formula 1, and if it can’t be with them, then obviously, I need to try and make that happen with somebody else,” he added.
Speaking last month, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko promised that Lawson would be on the grid “no later than in 2025”, suggesting he will replace Tsunoda or Ricciardo.
Therefore, the respective performances of the RB drivers will prove decisive, with Tsunoda having the edge over Ricciardo across the opening three rounds of this season.
The Australian has sustained an underwhelming start to his full F1 comeback and has been placed under pressure from Marko to improve his results to match Tsunoda.
Ricciardo has stated that his ambition is to return to the Red Bull cockpit he vacated at the end of 2018 in place of Sergio Perez, who is out of contract at the end of 2024.
However, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has established that the Mexican is in “pole position” to retain his place alongside reigning champion Max Verstappen.
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