Final Liam Lawson decision ‘soon’ as Racing Bulls issues update

Alan Permane wants to announce his F1 2027 Racing Bulls line-up soon as he’s tired of being asked the same question “multiple times” every week.

Racing Bulls is the only team still to confirm either of its two drivers for next year’s championship amid doubts over the future of Liam Lawson.

Alan Permane sends blunt message as Racing Bulls face Liam Lawson decision

While the team is expected to continue with Arvid Lindblad, it remains to be seen whether Lawson will hold onto his race seat.

Although the New Zealander is best of the rest behind the top four teams in the standings, and has more than double the points of 10th-placed Pierre Gasly, his seat is under threat from Nikola Tsolov.

Red Bull junior Tsolov is contesting the Formula 2 title against 2027 Haas F1 driver Rafael Câmara. With two rounds remaining, Câmara leads by seven points.

Red Bull is considering Tsolov for a Racing Bulls seat whether he wins the title or not.

It would, however, be a brutal call against Lawson given the 24-year-old’s performances this season.

It is a decision that Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer concedes almost everyone outside of Red Bull and Racing Bulls has a position on. However, at the end of the day, it rests for Permane.

Asked if Lawson had done enough to retain his seat, Bayer told ORF: “That’s the general consensus in the paddock.

“At the same time, our role, as the leading developer of talent in Formula 1, is to continuously bring new drivers through.

“We’ve brought 22 drivers into Formula 1, including the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and others.

“That’s why I say that, at the end of the day, the decision lies with Alan. And he will make the right choice for the team. We chatted about that briefly on Saturday.”

It’s a decision, though, that Permane has yet to arrive at.

And why he’s tired of being asked about.

“Soon, as I’ve been saying for a long, long time!” Permane told F1 TV. “Hopefully.

“I want to get it done, because I want you guys to stop asking me every single week – multiple times every single week.

“Let’s get it done soon.”

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Lawson secured his fifth successive top-10 result at the São Paulo race, finishing seventh after securing an impressive P3 on the grid in a wet qualifying session.

But as quicker cars behind him, including Max Verstappen, recovered from grid penalties, Lawson dropped down the order.

P7, though, was still his fourth seventh-placed result in the last five races.

“The first few laps were amazing,” Permane said. “Really, really impressive.

“And then of course, I think what happened is the track dries a little bit, and those guys with a bit more downforce look after the intermediate tyres a little bit more on the drying track, and then they just ease away from us.

“But a race where getting onto the dry tyre and then getting back onto the inter, and of course, then we had another pit stop in the middle for another set of softs. We got all those decisions pretty much right. So it was a strong race.

“Certainly, our models showed that those top cars would come through, the cars that were at the back. I’m surprised the Ferraris didn’t come through a little bit stronger. I guess [Lewis] Hamilton left it a lap too late to get onto the intermediate tyres at the end, which helped us out quite a bit.

“So, a P7 from Liam again, it’s amazing.”

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