‘High-level’ Red Bull meeting has now decided Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda’s 2026 F1 futures

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Red Bull and Racing Bulls are set to announce their 2026 line-ups on Tuesday, but a decision on Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda’s future has now reportedly been made.

The Qatar Grand Prix saw Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda both score points, with the New Zealander finishing 1.7 seconds ahead of his rival.

The F1 driver market hasn’t been the biggest talking point of the season, especially after Max Verstappen confirmed he would be spending at least one more year at Red Bull.

Discussions over who would be Verstappen’s teammate have been rampant, with Isack Hadjar expected to be promoted to Red Bull alongside him for a long time after a stellar rookie campaign.

Highly-rated Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad is set to race for Racing Bulls next year, leaving Lawson and Tsunoda in a shootout for the final seat.

Now, it appears that a ‘high-level’ meeting at Red Bull held after the race in Qatar has confirmed their plans, and it sounds like good news for Lawson.

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Liam Lawson set to partner Arvid Lindblad at Racing Bulls in 2026

A report from De Telegraaf, who have strong links to the Red Bull and Racing Bulls camps, has shared more information on how the final three open seats on the grid for next season are set to be filled.

They believe that a ‘high-level meeting’ that included Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, chief advisor Helmut Marko and CEO Oliver Mintzlaff decided their plans for 2026.

Unsurprisingly, Hadjar is set to become Verstappen’s fourth different teammate since the end of the 2023 campaign next year.

The Frenchman is aiming to finish in the top 10 of the championship in Abu Dhabi, and his meteoric rise is even more surprising when you take into account that this time last year, he didn’t even know if he would be in Formula 1.

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On top of this, De Telegraaf report that Lawson ‘will remain at Racing Bulls’ next year, and 18-year-old British driver Lindblad will join him.

The announcement is expected to come ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Lindblad will get another taste of Formula 1 action as his F2 campaign comes to an end.

It’s believed that Tsunoda will miss FP1 during his final race on the grid with Red Bull to give his car to Lindblad, which is a requirement of the sport as opposed to Mekies giving him an early head start.

It’s been suggested that Tsunoda could remain at Red Bull as a reserve driver, but ‘that’s not yet clear’.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

Liam Lawson fully deserving of 2026 Racing Bulls seat alongside Arvid Lindblad

Lawson had a nightmare start to 2025, looking completely out of place and bereft of confidence at Red Bull.

He only had a dozen or so Grand Prix under his belt at that stage, and being thrown in to join Verstappen in a hostile environment and a car that was nearly impossible to drive was always going to make life difficult.

The New Zealander deserves huge credit for how he adapted to life back at Racing Bulls after such a public humiliation.

His best result of the season came in Baku, when symbolically, he finished directly ahead of Tsunoda during his weekend with Red Bull.

Racing Bulls see Lawson as the perfect mentor for Lindblad, and his job will be to make sure he comfortably beats the teenage rookie.

A return to Red Bull for Lawson is off the cards, but it’s now his job to try and impress other teams on the grid who could offer him a more competitive car.