Kravitz: Lawson should not be dropped even if Tsolov had the genes of Verstappen, Senna, Hamilton and Alonso

If Liam Lawson loses his seat to academy junior Nikola Tsolov, nobody could blame him for considering it the height of injustice. He faces being dropped by Racing Bulls despite utterly dominating the midfield and trouncing his team-mate. Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz sees no reason whatsoever for Racing Bulls to promote Tsolov to F1 at this stage.

Liam Lawson has finished seventh in four of the last five races, usually the best result available to a midfield driver. He has backed up his superb race form with solid qualifying pace. He finished fifth in a challenging wet qualifying session in Brazil, despite not even completing his second run in Q3.

“Liam Lawson is starting P3 on the grid. And they can’t sack him now, can they? Or can they,” said experienced Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz after Saturday’s qualifying session. “Even if Nikola Tsolov is Max Verstappen, Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso all rolled into one, where’s the harm in giving Tsolov another year just to cement himself?”

A year’s delay would allow Red Bull to put the problem off for another season. Tsolov could stay in Formula 2 if he does not win the title, or head to Japan’s Super Formula. Spending next season racing in Japan would mean following directly in Lawson’s footsteps.

“As a reserve, give him all the FP1s you want, and come up with an interesting racing series for him to do. It’s all good experience; you don’t need to rush him in so quickly,” the 52-year-old Briton argued.

Fans in the Balkans can hardly wait for their first Formula 1 driver, who some suggest could become as big a star in Bulgaria as Tadej Pogačar is in Slovenia.

“Maybe he is,” said Kravitz, returning to his thoughts on Tsolov. “And that’s clearly what the hinting is from FP1 in Mexico that Tsolov was extremely impressive, he was calm, he was quick, he’s doing the Testing of Previous Cars, that he was amazing. And he is Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna incarnate, and he’s going to be that good, and that’s why they want to put him in.”

“But he’s still young; he’s only 20 years old, so there is time yet,” the English reporter continued. Tsolov will celebrate his 20th birthday shortly before Christmas. “And listen if it doesn’t work out, give Liam Lawson half a season and say we’re going to put Tsolov in the second half of the season, at least giving you some time.”

Lawson would not find another seat so easily now. In Helmut Marko’s day, nobody would have been surprised by such a ruthless decision to cast him aside, but Red Bull wants to begin a new chapter. “Because to drop Lawson now and leave him with no other options is a bit difficult, and you never know what will happen. There’ll be loads of seats available for 2028. Then at least Lawson will have a bit more time if indeed he is not a part of Red Bull’s long-term plans.”

“Williams perhaps? You never know what will happen there. You can’t drop Liam Lawson now. Well, they can. They might,” he added.