{"id":841182,"date":"2026-08-03T05:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/841182\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T05:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T05:10:10","slug":"formula-1-assessing-liam-lawsons-options-as-decision-over-future-comes-into-focus-alex-powell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/841182\/","title":{"rendered":"Formula 1: Assessing Liam Lawson\u2019s options as decision over future comes into focus \u2013 Alex Powell"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Racing Bulls won\u2019t compete for a title any time soon, Lawson\u2019s role as its team leader is proving worth its weight in gold in the battle to beat Alpine to fifth in the constructors<\/a> \u2013 what would be the best result in the team\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Yet, with the mid-season summer break now underway, it\u2019s the Kiwi who faces an uncertain future within Red Bull\u2019s ranks.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, reports out of Spain claimed Red Bull-backed Formula Two driver Nikola Tsolov has been guaranteed a place at Racing Bulls<\/a> next year, at Lawson\u2019s expense. Even though the team was quick to tell the Herald that no decisions have been made for 2027<\/a>, team principal Alan Permane has made it clear Tsolov will step into Racing Bulls eventually.<\/p>\n

Despite Lawson\u2019s success at Racing Bulls this year, there is an uncomfortable question to ask about his place. If Red Bull have truly drawn a line through Lawson\u2019s name for one of its two seats, the clock is ticking for both parties on how long the relationship can continue before the next young talent gets a chance.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the Kiwi has made himself an almost irresistible proposition for a team to sign as soon as a seat is freed.<\/p>\n

The only question would be where to next? While Lawson\u2019s form would be worth a top side other than Red Bull giving him an opportunity, there are none free in the short term.<\/p>\n

McLaren and Ferrari have their respective drivers on long-term deals. Mercedes\u2019 current pair are each off-contract at the end of the season, and likely to be extended in spite of speculation for a swoop to snatch Max Verstappen from Red Bull through his exit clause<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That, then, highlights Lawson\u2019s dilemma \u2013 of all the moves that would theoretically be available to him, none would be a forward step.<\/p>\n

Alpine have shown they can compete this year, evidenced by Pierre Gasly\u2019s podium finish in Monaco<\/a>, but Lawson moving from the chaos of Red Bull to a team run by Flavio Briatore wouldn\u2019t offer much stability. <\/p>\n

Audi have made an impressive start to life after rebranding from Sauber, building their own power unit to the table, but are a few years away \u2013 at least \u2013 from being a frontrunner. What\u2019s more, given his family ties to the brand, a move for Williams\u2019 Carlos Sainz feels likely from the German giants.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin could have a seat free with Fernando Alonso approaching free agency, and appear to have poached a Lawson ally in Jonathan Wheatley from Audi<\/a> to be its team principal. However, considering Honda\u2019s influence went against Lawson at Red Bull<\/a>, something similar taking place at Aston Martin isn\u2019t out of the question either.<\/p>\n

Politics would also likely play a part in keeping Cadillac out of reach \u2013 after American efforts to move Colton Herta from IndyCar to Formula Two to gain Super Licence points \u2013 as well as Haas, whose links to Toyota are only getting stronger.<\/p>\n

That leaves Williams. Sainz\u2019s seemingly impending exit would free up a seat, and reunite Lawson with Alex Albon \u2013 after the pair were teammates for AF Corse in DTM. Team principal James Vowles is a known admirer of Lawson\u2019s, and even attempted to sign the Kiwi on loan<\/a> after sacking Logan Sargeant in 2024. <\/p>\n

Joining Williams would be a huge gamble. After finishing fifth last year, the nine-time constructors champions have only gone backwards this season, and even started the year with a car 20kg overweight. <\/p>\n

Under Vowles, Williams have shown they can improve from one year to the next, going from ninth in 2024 to fifth in 2025. But rebounding from this position is a big ask.<\/p>\n

In all likelihood, staying at Racing Bulls wouldn\u2019t be the end of the world. The team have not only shown they\u2019re a great fit for Lawson on-track, but off it as well. No other side would have helped a driver rebuild in the way Racing Bulls did last year, and are being rewarded for it now.<\/p>\n

The Tsolov question will have to be answered at some point, but unless there\u2019s significant reason to make a change for 2027, a Lawson-Lindblad pairing would remain a solid duo, even if the Bulgarian teenager steps up into the team\u2019s reserve driver role as a means of keeping them both on their toes.<\/p>\n

Until racing resumes in Holland later this month, don\u2019t be surprised if the \u2018what now for Liam Lawson\u2019 storylines rumble on.<\/p>\n

Alex Powell<\/a> is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Racing Bulls won\u2019t compete for a title any time soon, Lawson\u2019s role as its team leader is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[13808,10968,5118,411547,10960,413561,64,63,27046,2460,197978,26359,5864,817,90094,31960,813,816,17954,21503,286104,16371,78778,293224,15448,15498,8936,321,23917,161,85,8293,337675],"class_list":["post-841182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-13808","tag-10968","tag-alex","tag-arguably","tag-as","tag-assessing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-better","tag-case","tag-comes","tag-decision","tag-driver","tag-f1","tag-focus","tag-formula","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-forward","tag-future","tag-halfway","tag-into","tag-lawson","tag-lawsons","tag-liam","tag-options","tag-over","tag-point","tag-powell","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-than","tag-themselves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}