{"id":68348,"date":"2025-08-15T07:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/68348\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T07:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:19:09","slug":"liam-lawson-f1-prospects-boosted-by-laurent-mekies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/68348\/","title":{"rendered":"Liam Lawson F1 prospects boosted by Laurent Mekies"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a worst-case scenario start to the 2025 season, Liam Lawson<\/a> is fighting to establish himself at VCARB. The Kiwi has spent the last few months trying to recover from the shock of being replaced at Red Bull after the Chinese GP.<\/p>\n

Only a few months ago, Lawson\u2019s chances of staying in Formula 1 beyond the end of this year were slim.<\/p>\n

For obvious reasons, his position at Red Bull was damaged \u2013 in the eyes of some, irreparably \u2013 when he was replaced after round two.<\/p>\n

Thankfully for Lawson, various things have changed in the last few weeks \u2013 which could boost his F1 chances.<\/p>\n

\"\"Liam Lawson leads Max Verstappen during the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary. (Photo by Joe Portlock\/Getty Images) \/\/ Getty Images \/ Red Bull Content Pool
\nLawson secures solid results, Laurent Mekies changes the equation<\/p>\n

It is safe to say that Red Bull\u2019s move to promote Liam Lawson for the 2025 F1 Season was always somewhat speculative.<\/p>\n

This is not because Lawson did not produce some impressive drives for VCARB. Despite returning to the Faenza team mid-season, the Kiwi was within a respectable distance of Yuki Tsunoda.<\/p>\n

If anything, he was objectively closer to Tsunoda<\/a> than the Japanese driver\u2019s two previous teammates \u2013 De Vries and Ricciardo.<\/p>\n

Still, Christian Horner\u2019s decision to promote Lawson<\/a> seemed out of step with the reality at Red Bull.<\/p>\n

For a team with a self-admittedly difficult car to manage, putting someone with less than a full season of experience alongside Verstappen seemed premature.<\/p>\n

It was only a few weeks before Red Bull conceded their mistake, with Lawson in the unprecedented scenario of losing his seat after two Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

In the weeks after his demotion, the 23-year-old was a few steps behind Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n

Considering the nature of his Red Bull departure, Lawson\u2019s market value was only worsened when Hadjar consistently outperformed him \u2013 despite the obvious challenges of adaptation Lawson faced.<\/p>\n

After the seventh round of the season in Imola, yet to score points in 2025, Lawson\u2019s future looked bleak.<\/p>\n

With Lindblad fighting at the front in Formula 2, the Kiwi seemed the most likely casualty if Red Bull moved to promote the 17-year-0ld into Formula 1.<\/p>\n

Since Imola, however, the state of play has changed significantly.<\/p>\n

Lawson is now performing at a much stronger level, having adapted to his VCARB.<\/p>\n

His most recent P8 in Hungary, where he kept Verstappen<\/a> at bay throughout his final stint, underlines his resurgence.<\/p>\n

Lawson has four points finishes from the last seven races, whilst teammate Hadjar only has one.<\/p>\n

In combination with Laurent Mekies becoming Red Bull team principal, the last few months have been a much-needed reset for the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n

As reported by ESPN<\/a>, Red Bull\u2019s new internal dynamics could put the #30 driver in a stronger position.<\/p>\n

\"\"Liam Lawson in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images) \/\/ Getty Images \/ Red Bull Content Pool
\nLindblad could spend another year in Formula 2<\/p>\n

Of course, Hadjar is a few years younger than Lawson and also less experienced \u2013 albeit not by much.<\/p>\n

Because of this, despite recent form, Hadjar\u2019s market value is slightly higher. This is likely to continue in the short term, provided the VCARB drivers perform at a similar level.<\/p>\n

Thankfully for Lawson, his Red Bull demotion (meaning Hadjar would be next in line for a promotion) has not altogether ruined his F1 future.<\/p>\n

For much of the year, Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad<\/a> has been described as an F1-calibre talent. Indeed, this is still how the Milton Keynes outfit perceive him.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Lindblad\u2019s Formula 2 campaign has somewhat stalled.<\/p>\n

Currently 7th in the standings (and behind fellow rookies Fornaroli and Dunne), the British driver is not necessarily on a fast-track to join F1 in 2026.<\/p>\n

To be clear, Lindblad remains a very valuable asset within Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Provided his upward trajectory continues, it seems only a matter of time until he joins the F1 grid.<\/p>\n

With that said, his chances of being in F1 next year have diminished \u2013 with Lawson showing enough to justify another season.<\/p>\n

Under the leadership of Laurent Mekies, Red Bull are more likely to show a more lenient approach with its drivers.<\/p>\n

Their heavy-handed and ruthless approach, after all, has done little to solve their underlying problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because of this, Lawson could yet earn another year in Formula 1 \u2013 provided he finishes the season strongly.<\/p>\n

As the 2026 regulations inch closer, Red Bull would be happy to have some continuity among their driver ranks.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images (via Red Bull content pool)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a worst-case scenario start to the 2025 season, Liam Lawson is fighting to establish himself at VCARB.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1687,35742,372,6537,35743,9734,371,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-68348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1","tag-f1","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-lawson","tag-racing-bulls","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}