Liam Lawson’s Red Bull ‘on hold’ expectation as major F1 enjoyment admission made

Liam Lawson says he fully expects to be “left on hold” regarding his F1 future with the Red Bull organisation, as he is fighting to hold onto his Racing Bulls seats for 2026.

Red Bull is yet to confirm the identity of the second driver at the senior team, while neither cockpit has yet been confirmed at the Racing Bulls squad for whom Lawson currently races.

Liam Lawson: Not many F1 drivers can feel secure in this sport

It’s been a wild ride over the last 12 months for Liam Lawson, who, after a stint as a substitute driver in 2023, came into a full-time F1 seat after last year’s Singapore Grand Prix to replace the ousted Daniel Ricciardo.

Lawson did enough to convince Red Bull he could be better-equipped to handle the challenge of racing for the senior team this year, and was placed alongside Max Verstappen in the RB21 to start the year.

However, Lawson quickly foundered and was dropped back to Racing Bulls after the first two races as Red Bull opted to put in the more experienced Yuki Tsunoda, a move that also hasn’t yielded much reward in the races since.

For Lawson, the rapid change in circumstances placed him on the back foot as his pre-season testing had been carried out in a different car to the Racing Bulls, meaning he quickly had to find his feet in a car he hadn’t driven, and with new personnel as he reverted to the opposite side of the garage to whom he had raced with last year.

While he had accumulated a total of 11 race weekends’ experience by the start of this year, Lawson was, for all intents and purposes, still essentially a rookie driver and initially struggled to keep up with new rookie teammate Isack Hadjar as the French driver’s more settled preparation stood him in good stead.

But, as Lawson has found his feet again, his pace and weekend execution have improved, and while the Kiwi says his confidence was never dented by the events of the start of the year, there have been signs of a marked upswing as he has become a regular points-scorer, including a season-best finish of fifth in Azerbaijan.

But Lawson’s future is not yet assured. Hadjar is widely expected to get the nod to step up alongside Verstappen at Red Bull next year, as Tsunoda may end up elsewhere; the suggestion is perhaps as a reserve driver at the Honda-powered Aston Martin team.

Should this play out, this still leaves two vacant seats at Racing Bulls, and Lawson does represent a strong known quantity for Red Bull, as other linked names are complete rookies. Junior driver Arvid Lindblad is the next in line from Red Bull’s programme for a promotion, although his position could be coming under pressure from Alex Dunne, as the Irish driver has attracted the attention of Helmut Marko.

At this point, Dunne’s talks with Red Bull are understood to not be with an eye to a race seat, although this could be due to his lack of qualification for an F1 Super Licence. Dunne must finish in the top three of the F2 championship this season in order to secure the required 40 points, and he currently lies in fifth.

Like last year, Lawson may have to wait until the very end of this season, or even the winter break, for answers as to his Red Bull future, as Marko and Laurent Mekies have made it clear they are not in a rush to make decisions for next year just yet.

For the Kiwi, he’s getting used to uncertainty, as he explained to the media over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.

“I’d love to know tomorrow, honestly,” he said of his ideal timeline to get answers.

“But obviously, in this camp [Red Bull], it’s very normal to be left on hold a little bit, and that’s how it is at the moment.

“I know the only thing that has control over that is my performance in the car. So, until I have that answer, I think that’s just what I’m focused on.”

Lawson’s tumultuous start to life in F1 has given him a circumspect perspective on the fragility of his current career, and he freely admitted that he doesn’t yet feel settled in Formula 1.

“I think, unless you’re on multi-year contracts… And even then, I think you know Formula 1 contracts, any contracts at the end of the day, can be made to be broken, in a way,” he said.

“At the end of the day, the only time you’re secure is when you’re performing. I don’t think there are many drivers, apart from some of the top guys, who are going to feel completely secure in the sport.

“But it’s not really a new feeling anyway; it’s something that we are very used to. It’s something that we are, especially in the Red Bull programme, introduced to at a very young age, knowing that the only way you step up through the ladder is by performing, and you have that pressure all the time.

“It’s on a bigger scale, but it’s the same thing.”

While not yet sure if he’ll be behind the wheel of the VCARB03 next year, Lawson confirmed he is currently participating in the initial preparations for the new regulations.

“Naturally, the drivers who are in the seat at the moment are going to be doing those early preparations,” he said.

“Obviously, whenever a decision comes in, then that will either stay the same or change.

“But right now, it’s very early preps for next year. It’s nothing major. For us as drivers, we’re much more focused on this year and all the races that we’re currently racing. The team can look at next year and develop and stuff like that.”

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A year into his proper arrival in Formula 1, the rest of this season sees Lawson race at circuits he has driven before, something he says isn’t critical, but helps with being able to concentrate on the car’s performance from earlier in a weekend.

Having built up rapport with his garage crew and finding increasing comfort through tweaks to the car and the setup from when he first jumped back in at Suzuka, Lawson said he hasn’t been given any explicit targets to hit by Red Bull.

“It’s nothing in particular, other than just scoring points and having good races,” he said.

“I think the main thing for us is we’re fighting for P6 in the Constructors’, and that’s what we’re very focused on.

“If we achieve that, naturally, that means that I’ve probably done my job. From a wider perspective, that’s probably the goal for me. It’s just, every time I get in the car, trying to get the most out of it and score the most amount of points I can.”

The ongoing uncertainty over his seat has meant that Lawson paused when asked whether he is actually enjoying himself in Formula 1.

“I think you enjoy the success. You enjoy the good moments, the results, honestly,” he said.

“But it is crazy how quickly that mindset changes and clicks on to the next one. Baku was a great result, and I was super stoked for the team, and with how the race was, it felt like a great performance for me.

“But very quickly, within a few hours, you’re already focused on the next one coming up.

“In my position as well, when I’m trying to secure a seat next year, it’s probably more natural to be thinking ahead more and trying to keep these results coming. So there’s probably less enjoyment than you’d expect.”

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