Liam Lawson faces fresh Racing Bulls uncertainty after CEO’s revealing admission

Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has given the biggest hint yet that Liam Lawson’s future is not secure, as he declared the F1 team is a “developer of talent”.

His comments came after Racing Bulls hopeful Nikola Tsolov put in a “superb” performance during his FP1 debut at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Peter Bayer explains Liam Lawson’s uncertain Racing Bulls future

Despite leading Racing Bulls’ charge this season, having scored 69 of the team’s 108 points to sit fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, Lawson has yet to secure his future with the Formula 1 team.

The New Zealander, who is ‘best of the rest’ in the Drivers’ standings having almost doubled 10th-placed driver Pierre Gasly’s score, has been made to wait.

And while he’s waited, Racing Bulls ran Tsolov during Friday’s FP1 in Mexico City.

He replaced Lawson for the session and finished a tenth shy of Arvid Lindblad’s best time.

Racing Bulls CEO Bayer was impressed, and not only with the Bulgarian’s performance on the track.

But whether it is enough to persuade Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane to drop Lawson, who has been one of the standout drivers of the season, remains to be seen.

“Honestly, [his] performance on Friday was superb. It was his first time in the car, and he integrated into the team absolutely perfectly,” Bayer told ORF.

“Regarding the driver decision, he put in a fantastic performance.

“That decision rests with Alan, and he will make it, or rather, announce it when he feels the time is right.”

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One factor against Lawson is that this season is his second full year on the grid. Although he contested a handful of races in 2023 and 2024, it wasn’t until last year that he completed a full campaign.

Even then, he started last season at Red Bull before being demoted to Racing Bulls, while this year he was a substitute at Red Bull for three Grand Prix weekends.

Lawson scored in two of his Red Bull performances, while the New Zealander has secured 14 top-ten results in 19 Grands Prix to date in 2026.

Asked if Lawson had done enough to retain his seat, Bayer replied: “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.”

Lawson has been left to ponder what more he can do to save his seat.

“I just feel like it’s been a very strong year for us, and especially the second half, things have been very, very strong,” he said.

“And trying to find that consistency in Formula 1 is very, very hard.

“It can go away for me very quickly. With how many variables there are, it’s obviously something that’s always a factor. But for us, I think we’ve maximised really a lot this year, especially the second half.

“So, yeah, I’m not really sure what more is expected, but I’m also not really sitting here thinking too much about the whole seat selection thing.

“Just because a year ago I thought about it a lot, it was very much in my head, and it just makes you overthink things.

“And so this year, I feel like I haven’t really thought about it much at all, and things have been strong. So I’m just trying to keep that mindset up, trying to score as many points as I can and end the season with as many as I can.”

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