A decision regarding Liam Lawson’s role with Red Bull in Formula 1 is expected in the coming weeks, the team’s advisor, Helmut Marko, has revealed.
In his column for Speedweek, Marko also revealed Red Bull is eager to retain the Kiwi talent, who impressed in his five Grand Prix starts at AlphaTauri in 2023 in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo.
“We will announce what happens next with Liam Lawson in September,” he said.
“The fact that he was able to gain more Formula 1 kilometres of experience in Imola had been planned for some time. Even if the competition would like to use him on loan, he is not available for that.”
With Lawson unavailable for loan, the comments imply he may have a seat lined up at RB alongside Yuki Tsunoda, who is already confirmed for the 2025 season.
Previous comments made by Marko have revealed a clause in the 2023 Super Formula runner-up’s contract that allows him to depart the team if a seat is unavailable come 2025.
Another season as a reserve driver is also an unfortunate possibility, with the Kiwi introduced in 2026 when Formula 1 introduces a wide range of technical regulations set to drastically change the series.
Marko also suggested Formula 2 driver Isack Hadjar will take over Lawson’s role as reserve driver once the Kiwi gets his call-up.
“Our Formula 2 driver Isack Hadjar took his fourth victory in the top formula racing class at Spa,” he said.
“He clearly has the potential for Formula 1. We’ll see how everything develops, but he will certainly take on a role of some kind. It could be that, like Lawson, he will spend a year as a test and simulator driver.”
Lawson recently tested a 2022-spec AlphaTauri at Imola as a part of a planned filming day, while Tsunoda and Ricciardo drove the current RB machinery.
Three-time World Champion Max Verstappen, Tsunoda, and Sergio Perez have contracts for next season, but Red Bull has been concerned about the latter’s consistency in the opening half of the 2024 campaign.
The team has, however, retained Perez for at least the remainder of the season.
“Sergio Perez will also be in the Red Bull Racing car after the summer break because we now have races on the tracks where he was good last year, and we are relying on stability,” Marko said.
“He has repeatedly shown good performances in between, and he was also very fast on Saturday at the last race weekend in Spa, finishing third.
“He was allowed to start from second position and, according to the calculations, third place would have been possible. But we saw that his tyres had degraded significantly more. He couldn’t push and there was also the fact that we only had two sets of the medium tyres and one set of the hard compound, while the competition had two sets of the hard and one set of the medium tyres available. That was perhaps also a crucial point.
“Perez doesn’t have to become faster, but more consistent. And given the alternatives, he is still our best solution.”
Header Image: Getty Images/ Red Bull Content Pool
