Liam Lawson reveals when Red Bull F1 future talks are expected to begin

Liam Lawson has revealed that the conversation about F1 2027 will likely begin in the coming days, with the New Zealander in the dark about his future with the Red Bull organisation.

Red Bull is the only organisation on the grid that owns two Formula 1 teams, and has the capacity to move drivers between the teams – one a race-winning outfit and the other a midfield entry.

Liam Lawson expects Red Bull future talks after summer break

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Last year, Lawson was promoted to the senior team only to lose his seat after two race weekends and return to Racing Bulls.

Yuki Tsunoda replaced him at Red Bull, and while the Japanese driver saw out the season, today he’s the team’s reserve driver.

Instead, it is now Lawson and his rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad fighting, not only to remain on the grid next season, but potentially replace Max Verstappen if he leaves the team to join McLaren or Mercedes, or to retire.

Verstappen has an exit clause that he could have activated on the Sunday evening after the Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished the race in second place, which left him 60 points shy of the runner-up position that his contract is understood to have stipulated.

The driver line-up for both Red Bull and Racing Bulls will be largely determined by Verstappen’s action.

So much so, Lawson admitted that heading into the summer break, he had no idea what could come next.

“Oh, me personally? I actually have no idea,” the Racing Bulls driver told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.

“I think that stuff, that conversation is normally around summer break. So I’m sure there’ll be discussions around that.”

Lawson is the leading Racing Bulls driver this season, having scored 43 points to his teammate Lindblad’s 23.

After two years of just a handful of races and then the disappointment of his Red Bull demotion, this year marks Lawson’s first full season in Formula 1 with one team.

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane says he is happy with the New Zealander’s performances.

“Liam has been amazing this year, honestly,” Permane declared.

“We talk a lot about Arvid, and rightly so, but Liam had a very difficult start. In addition, he was competing against Isack Hadjar, who is an extraordinary talent.

“However, this year, Liam has done exactly everything we have asked of him. He’s totally focused, he’s still very fast, he takes opportunities when they arise, he doesn’t make mistakes and he’s doing a fantastic job.

“He is well placed in the overall standings of the world championship.

“That is exactly what we ask of him, and he’s are getting it.”

That, though, has done little to silence rumours that Red Bull Formula 2 driver Nikola Tsolov could be in line to replace Lawson next season.

However, Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer insists that is “just rumours.

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“He’s doing a brilliant job and is a huge talent whom we naturally have on our radar.

“But we’ve only had seven races so far, and Liam and Arvid are doing just as brilliant a job. So it’s not even on the cards at the moment.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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