Liam Lawson is expected to retain his current race drive with Racing Bulls into the 2026 Formula 1 season, according to a report published in his native New Zealand.
Lawson began the campaign with Red Bull’s senior side, having been chosen to replace the ousted Sergio Perez to partner the reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen.
However, Lawson’s stint with Red Bull soon descended into a nightmare as successive point-less weekends prompted him to be demoted two rounds into the season.
The Kiwi, who exchanged spots with Yuki Tsunoda, has lagged behind rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar, though he bagged Racing Bulls’ best result with sixth in Austria.
Lawson expressed that he was relieved to convert his positive weekend into a points return, but he acknowledged that he must use that momentum as a springboard.
“For sure the best way to respond to anything is by performing well and that’s what we set out to do every weekend,” Lawson told media including Motorsport Week.
“There’s a lot of variables in Formula 1, and quite often you can have all the right ingredients, you can have speed and I think we’ve had that for quite a while.
“It just never came together when it needed to and then Austria did, which is great, but we need to continue doing that.”
Who could partner Lawson at Racing Bulls?
According to the New Zealand Herald, Red Bull is leaning towards handing Lawson a complete campaign with Racing Bulls, with whom he made his F1 debut in 2023.
The report states that Red Bull views Lawson as the ideal option to head the satellite squad’s driver line-up going into a season with sweeping new technical changes.
Lawson’s possible team-mate will depend on whether Tsunoda can do enough over the remaining races to prove to Red Bull that he deserves to remain with the team.
Like Lawson, the Japanese driver has struggled in the sister Red Bull alongside Verstappen, and he is now on a wretched five-round run without scoring a single point.
In the scenario where Tsunoda is released once the season ends, the anticipation is that Hadjar’s exploits have installed him as the next in line to move up to Red Bull.
That would allow Red Bull to promote Arvid Lindblad, who is in championship contention in his debut Formula 2 season and made his F1 weekend bow at Silverstone.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko lavished praise on Lindblad’s home appearance in the RB21, where he lapped five-tenths behind Verstappen’s time in opening practice.
“In our opinion, the teenager did a great job,” Marko told Speedweek regarding Lindblad, who has also conducted several tests with Racing Bulls.
“His speed was spot on, his comments were insightful, and the technicians are very satisfied with his performance.
“Lindblad was back in the car the week after Silverstone completing more than 100 laps and demonstrating excellent physical condition and competitive lap times.”
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