Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko has all but guaranteed Liam Lawson will have a spot on the 2025 Formula 1 grid within the Red Bull family, saying the New Zealander “will certainly be in one of our cars next year.”
Lawson, a Reserve Driver for the Red Bull and RB squads, found himself promoted to a temporary race seat at Alpha Tauri in 2023 after Daniel Ricciardo injured himself during opening practice in last year’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
Despite a number of impressive performances, Lawson didn’t earn a full-time drive for 2024 but speculation has continued around his future.
With both Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull and Ricciardo’s future at RB far from certain, Marko has fuelled the speculative fire surrounding Lawson, telling Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung “He will certainly be in one of our cars next year.”
Marko’s words suggest that Lawson, 21, will either find himself driving alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, or Yuki Tsunoda at RB in 2025 with both of those drivers confirmed for next season.
Perez meanwhile, was heavily touted for a summer break exit after a number of poor performances, despite securing a multi-year contract extension in June, but the Mexican was handed a reprieve by Marko and Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner to prove his worth across the remainder of the season.
Ricciardo was the prime candidate to take Perez’s seat should the Mexican be forced to vacate it, but now equally has to look over his shoulder at Lawson, who by all accounts is ready to take any opportunity by the scruff of the neck.
Moreover, Marko has already revealed when Lawson’s future will be decided.
“We will announce what happens next with Liam Lawson in September,” Marko told Speedweek during the summer break, before adding “Even though the competition would like to use him on loan, he is not available for that.”
This means Lawson’s future could be realised at any point across the Italian, Azerbaijan and Singapore GPs next month.
After scoring a ninth-place finish in Singapore last year, bookended by two 11th places at Monza and Suzuka respectively – Lawson was rightly aggrieved to miss out on a driver for this campaign.
However, one of the most patient drivers in the Formula 1 paddock could be set for his reward sooner rather than later.
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