Liam Lawson may see Sergio Perez’s two-year contract extension at Red Bull as a blow. On the face of it, he was never likely a signing for the world champions for 2025.
But it hurts his chances of securing a full-time spot at junior team RB. The team have overlooked Yuki Tsunoda for a promotion but they may still block him from joining a rival team like Audi.
Lawson has no doubt had his eyes on Daniel Ricciardo’s drive for the first third of the season. Indeed, the Australian has been struggling relative to Tsunoda.
He’s scored only five of the team’s 24 points and trails his teammate 7-1 in the qualifying head-to-head. Lawson might well have been smelling blood, with Helmut Marko accusing his management of circulating ‘nonsense’ rumours about a mid-season driver change.
He’d impressed during a five-race stint for what was then AlphaTauri when Ricciardo broke his wrist last summer. The highlight was a first-ever points finish at the Singapore Grand Prix.
But despite Ricciardo’s underwhelming displays, he retains the faith of the Red Bull hierarchy ahead of 2025. Lawson has confirmed that he has the option to leave the team if they don’t give him a seat for next year, and he may now need to exercise it.
Williams and Sauber want a more experienced driver than Liam Lawson
Lawson has a chance of securing an F1 seat elsewhere, with his strong performances in 2023 still ‘fresh in the minds of team principals’. But the problem is he doesn’t seem to top of anybody’s list.
According to Formu1a.uno, both Williams and Sauber are likely to reject the New Zealander because of his lack of experience. They want a driver with a ‘proven track record of delivering at the highest level’.
Both teams have made offers to Carlos Sainz, who will lose his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton. Sainz is a veteran of 190 Grands Prix and has scored three victories and 22 podiums.
By contrast, Haas are open to signing a rookie, but Oliver Bearman has been earmarked as the replacement for Nico Hulkenberg. Likewise, Alpine will promote academy driver Jack Doohan if they decide to go for a young talent.
David Croft says Christian Horner and Helmut Marko disagree over Lawson
It may seem surprising that Red Bull are willing to retain Ricciardo. If Perez sees out his new contract, then he’ll be 36 by the time the next opportunity for a promotion comes around.
This is a team which built its identity around young talents who rose rapidly through the ranks. Sebastian Vettel, Daniil Kvyat, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon were all at Red Bull within a year or so of starting out in F1.
But the team seem to have adopted a much more conservative approach to their driver line-up nowadays. Christian Horner may be responsible for this shift.
Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft suspects that Marko would ‘dearly love’ to call up Lawson. However, Horner has thrown his backing behind Ricciardo, and it could spell the end of Lawson’s chances for 2025.
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