The Liam Lawson debate rumbles on with Racing Bulls urged to retain ‘best of the rest’ driver

Racing Bulls has been urged to retain Liam Lawson for next season as the New Zealander is best of the rest in the standings despite swapping teams for three races when he substituted for Isack Hadjar.

Racing Bulls remains the only team yet to confirm either of its F1 2027 drivers, with three drivers in contention.

David Croft urges Racing Bulls to keep Liam Lawson for F1 2027

While Lawson and Arvid Lindblad are the incumbent drivers, Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov is officially the “next in line” according to Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane.

The Bulgarian sits second in the Formula 2 standings after falling behind Rafael Câmara at Baku’s triple-header weekend.

Red Bull and Racing Bulls have yet to make a decision.

According to speculation, it is Lawson’s seat that is potentially on the line despite the New Zealander scoring the bulk of the team’s 90 points.

And he’s done so despite stepping out of the car for three races when he switched to Red Bull to fill in for the injured Hadjar.

His 51 points with Racing Bulls, added to his 14 with Red Bull, have put Lawson’s best of the rest in ninth place in the Drivers’ standings, top among those outside the top four teams on the grid.

Sky pundit David Croft believes that should be enough to secure his place on the F1 grid with Racing Bulls.

“Racing Bulls shouldn’t change their driver line-up for next year,” Croft told Sky Sports’ The F1 Show. “They should keep it exactly as it is.

“[He’s the] best of the rest, even though he did drive for one of the top four teams for a couple of races and did a decent job standing in.

“Liam was, I think, promoted up to Red Bull too soon and was jettisoned back down again as a result.

“I love the way he’s cleared his mind. He’s forgotten all about the start of last year and is a properly good racer.”

As the speculation about Lawson’s future continues, it is dividing pundits with Ralf Schumacher saying the team should drop him for Tsolov.

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“I don’t think he’ll stay,” the six-time Grand Prix winner told Sky Sports Deutschland. I believe Arvid Lindblad will stay, and that they’ll give Tsolov a chance.”

Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other accredited media at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lawson concedes all he can do is focus on putting in the best performances possible while the talks go in the background.

“There are conversations obviously constantly being had in the background, but for me, it’s very much focused on the racing,” he said.

“I don’t feel like there’s much more I could have done this year. We’ve had a good season and, at the moment, in a good place in the championship, and that’s where I’m trying to stay.

“At the moment, try and stay in ninth and keep those points rolling in, and those decisions I’m sure will be made in the next few weeks.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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