Kiwi driver Liam Lawson on verge of fulltime F1 seat

By Alex Powell

New Zealand’s Liam Lawson could be in a fulltime Formula One seat as early as May, after Red Bull issued a warning to Daniel Ricciardo, who drives for their subsidiary team Racing Bulls.

The Herald understands Ricciardo has been given an ultimatum by Red Bull’s head of driver development, Dr Helmut Marko, a known admirer of Lawson’s.

Should Ricciardo fail to improve over the next two Grand Prix in Japan and China respectively, Red Bull will perform a swap that sees Lawson likely installed in the Racing Bulls seat for Miami and remain with the team for the rest of the season.

The Herald also understands Lawson is seen internally as Red Bull’s best option to partner world champion Max Verstappen long-term, with current teammate Sergio Perez’s contract to expire at the end of the 2024 season.

Lawson, 22, impressed in his brief foray in motorsport’s pinnacle last year, but was overlooked by Red Bull’s bosses for one of two seats at Racing Bulls (formerly AlphaTauri) as the junior team opted to retain the driver pair of Ricciardo and Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Instead, Lawson has continued the role of Red Bull’s reserve for both of its two Formula One teams – a role he’s held since 2022.

However, after an indifferent start to the season, pressure is mounting on Ricciardo to keep his seat as Red Bull look to the future. Tsunoda’s position is understood to be safe, given his links to Honda, Red Bull’s engine supplier through until the end of 2025.

Perez is also well positioned to remain with Red Bull this season, and is currently second in the driver’s championship to Verstappen, who won the season’s two opening races before retiring on Sunday.

After the first three races of the season, the Australian is yet to score a single point, and has been out-qualified by Tsunoda in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and last weekend in Australia.

Saturday also saw Ricciardo fail to reach the second round of qualifying in his home race at Melbourne’s Albert Park for the first time in his career.

After Ricciardo suffered a broken hand at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, Lawson went from strength to strength in five races with then-AlphaTauri.

In Singapore, Lawson knocked world champion Max Verstappen out of qualifying, before driving home to finish ninth, which at the time was AlphaTauri’s best result of the season.

That performance came on the back of Lawson being told he would not be retained for 2024, as Red Bull backed Ricciardo and Tsunoda into the new season.

Earlier this year, Lawson told the Herald about his mentality in having no seat for this year and staying ready to step into the RB car when needed.

“In terms of what I’ll be driving and when I’ll be driving, that’s still to be set out,” he said.

“I’d love to be behind the wheel of a Formula One car and we’re all working towards trying to make that happen – whether it’s testing or racing – but right now nothing is confirmed.”

Red Bull has a history of being ruthless with its drivers, across its senior and junior teams.

In 2022, Nyck de Vries was picked over Lawson for the second AlphaTauri seat, but was sacked midway through last season, which opened the door for Ricciardo’s return.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission