Lawson fears for his seat: I don’t know what else they want me to do

Under Helmut Marko, Red Bull was known for its uncompromising approach to the youngsters in its driver academy. Since Marko’s departure, Red Bull has been shedding its ruthless reputation, but Liam Lawson has yet to feel the benefit in his own career. Despite delivering excellent performances, he fears for his seat.

Not so long ago, Red Bull’s talent pool was looking rather thin. Now, though, it has more drivers than seats. It has finally managed to find a suitable team-mate for Max Verstappen, while no fewer than three drivers are vying for places at the junior team. The management must decide which of Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Nikola Tsolov will miss out.

Although Helmut Marko no longer heads Red Bull’s academy, he said in a recent interview that he would put Tsolov in the car instead of Lawson. That could be exactly what happens, even though Lawson has the upper hand over Lindblad in every statistic and leads him 83–38 on points, albeit with only 69 of that total scored in a Racing Bulls car.

Even three seventh-place finishes in Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico may not help him. “I don’t know. I mean, every weekend I’ve been trying to obviously do my best,” said Liam Lawson on Thursday. “But we’ve had a really strong year and we’re in a good position. We’re fighting Alpine. We’re pulling away from Alpine every weekend, and with a few races left, we’re trying to stay on top of them.”

“I don’t know what else they want me to do, but yeah, it’s just one of those things at the moment,” sighed the 24-year-old New Zealander, who would have to move to another championship if he lost his seat, or become a reserve driver and hope another opening came his way. Given his results, that would be a cruel fate.

On the other hand, Red Bull can wait to see how this year’s Formula 2 title battle plays out. If Rafael Câmara, who already has a seat secured for next year, becomes champion, Nikola Tsolov will be able to stay in the championship for another year. The junior series has a rule requiring its champion to leave after their title-winning season. Where would Tsolov go if he won the title?

Lawson is running out of time to convince the management. If he fails, he risks spending 2027 on the sidelines. “I mean, it’s tough, isn’t it? It’s the end of the season. When something like this is pushed all the way to the end, you’re left with not really any options, so it’s not the easiest situation. Obviously, I want to be racing in F1, and I’m trying to show my best every weekend. I feel like we’ve had a good year.”