Ted Kravitz challenges Racing Bulls over Liam Lawson’s uncertain future
Liam Lawson has not yet had word about his future within the Red Bull stable.
Ted Kravitz made sure Alan Permane knew he was perplexed that Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls seat was on the line amid speculation that Red Bull could promote F2 driver Nikola Tsolov in his stead.
According to Kravitz, the team “can’t sack him now” that he is set to line up third on the São Paulo Grand Prix grid. “Well, they can,” he conceded to his own argument, adding: “They might.”
Why Ted Kravitz believes Racing Bulls should keep Liam Lawson
Lawson matched his career-best grid slot in Saturday’s wet qualifying at the Interlagos circuit, where he set the fifth-fastest time.
Grid penalties for George Russell and Charles Leclerc mean he is due to start the race from third on the grid – equalling the result he achieved in Azerbaijan in 2025.
As such, the New Zealander has a good opportunity to increase his lead over Pierre Gasly in the battle to finish ‘best of the rest’ in the Drivers’ standings behind the top four teams’ drivers.
Lawson is holding down ninth place by 41 points ahead of the Alpine driver.
Yet it’s Lawson’s seat that is reportedly on the line should Red Bull opt to promote its Formula 2 driver Tsolov.
It’s a situation that baffles Sky Sports’ pit lane reporter Kravitz. And he let Permane know that on Saturday in Brazil.
Go deeper: Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls contract
F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2026 grid?
F1 2027 driver line-up: Which drivers are already confirmed for the 2027 grid?
Walking through the paddock after qualifying as he delivered his analysis of the day’s action, Kravitz saw Racing Bulls team principal Permane standing outside the team’s hospitality.
More to the point, he noted that the Briton was standing in front of a picture of Lawson, who had earlier qualified P3 for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“Liam Lawson is starting P3 on the grid,” Kravitz said in his Ted’s Notebook.
Catching Permane’s attention, the Sky F1 pundit told him: “You ignore me, I’m about to say something about your driver choices that you might not want to hear, so maybe it’s a… ”
As Permane shook his head and walked away, Kravitz raised his voice: “And they can’t sack him now, can they? Or can they?”
He continued with his thoughts on Lawson’s future with Racing Bulls.
“Liam Lawson is third on the grid in a Racing Bulls,” he said, “they can’t sack him now.
“Even if Nikola Tsolov is Max Verstappen, Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso all rolled into one, where’s the harm in giving Tsolov another year just to cement himself?
“As a reserve, give him all the FP1s you want, come up with an interesting racing series for him to do. It’s all good experience, you don’t need to rush him in so quickly.
“Maybe he is, and that’s clearly what the hinting is from FP1 in Mexico that Tsolov was extremely impressive, he was calm, he was quick, he’s doing the Testing of Previous Cars, that he was amazing.
“And he is Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna incarnate and he’s going to be that good, and that’s why they want to put him in.
“But he’s still young, he’s only 20 years old, so there is time yet.
“And listen if it doesn’t work out, give Liam Lawson half a season and say we’re going to put Tsolov in the second half of the season, at least giving you some time.
“Because to drop Lawson now and leave him with no other options is a bit difficult, and you never know what will happen.
“There’ll be loads of seats available for 2027 [Ed’s note, 2028]. Then at least Lawson will have a bit more time if indeed he is not a part of Red Bull’s long-term plans.
“Williams perhaps? You never know what will happen there.”
He added: “You can’t drop Liam Lawson now. Well, they can. They might.”
Read next: ‘Send you home’ – Guenther Steiner’s Ferrari solution to Hamilton and Leclerc’s rivalry
