Liam Lawson says he fully expects to be \u201cleft on hold\u201d regarding his F1 future with the Red Bull organisation, as he is fighting to hold onto his Racing Bulls seats for 2026.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Liam Lawson: Not many F1 drivers can feel secure in this sport<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 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\u2019s Singapore Grand Prix to replace the ousted Daniel Ricciardo.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
However, Lawson quickly foundered and was dropped back to Racing Bulls<\/a> after the first two races as Red Bull opted to put in the more experienced Yuki Tsunoda, a move that also hasn\u2019t yielded much reward in the races since.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t driven, and with new personnel as he reverted to the opposite side of the garage to whom he had raced with last year.<\/p>\n While he had accumulated a total of 11 race weekends\u2019 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\u2019s more settled preparation stood him in good stead.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But Lawson\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n At this point, Dunne\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n For the Kiwi, he\u2019s getting used to uncertainty, as he explained to the media over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d love to know tomorrow, honestly,\u201d he said of his ideal timeline to get answers.<\/p>\n \u201cBut obviously, in this camp [Red Bull], it\u2019s very normal to be left on hold a little bit, and that\u2019s how it is at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the only thing that has control over that is my performance in the car. So, until I have that answer, I think that\u2019s just what I\u2019m focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawson\u2019s 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\u2019t yet feel settled in Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, unless you\u2019re on multi-year contracts\u2026 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, the only time you\u2019re secure is when you\u2019re performing. I don\u2019t think there are many drivers, apart from some of the top guys, who are going to feel completely secure in the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s not really a new feeling anyway; it\u2019s something that we are very used to. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s on a bigger scale, but it\u2019s the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n While not yet sure if he\u2019ll be behind the wheel of the VCARB03 next year, Lawson confirmed he is currently participating in the initial preparations for the new regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cNaturally, the drivers who are in the seat at the moment are going to be doing those early preparations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, whenever a decision comes in, then that will either stay the same or change.<\/p>\n \u201cBut right now, it\u2019s very early preps for next year. It\u2019s nothing major. For us as drivers, we\u2019re much more focused on this year and all the races that we\u2019re currently racing.\u00a0The team can look at next year and develop and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n More analysis from PlanetF1.com:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0Russell to stay? Predicting the next move for every out-of-contract F1 driver<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 uncovered: Hidden details revealed under the lights in Singapore<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019t critical, but helps with being able to concentrate on the car\u2019s performance from earlier in a weekend.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t been given any explicit targets to hit by Red Bull.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nothing in particular, other than just scoring points and having good races,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the main thing for us is we\u2019re fighting for P6 in the Constructors\u2019, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re very focused on.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we achieve that, naturally, that means that I\u2019ve probably done my job. From a wider perspective, that\u2019s probably the goal for me. It\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The ongoing uncertainty over his seat has meant that Lawson paused when asked whether he is actually enjoying himself in Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you enjoy the success. You enjoy the good moments, the results, honestly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut 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.<\/p>\n \u201cBut very quickly, within a few hours, you\u2019re already focused on the next one coming up.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my position as well, when I\u2019m trying to secure a seat next year, it\u2019s probably more natural to be thinking ahead more and trying to keep these results coming. So there\u2019s probably less enjoyment than you\u2019d expect.\u201d<\/p>\n