Liam Lawson has already dropped hint about where he’ll be racing in 2025 amid Red Bull talk

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Liam Lawson’s promotion to RB for the remainder of the 2024 season almost certainly spells the end of Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career. Ricciardo hasn’t held talks with any other teams and is no longer part of the Red Bull equation.

Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater says there’s no way back for Ricciardo at this stage. But the Lawson swap is also worrying for Sergio Perez.

In theory, Red Bull saw enough of Lawson in 2023 – when he deputised for an injured Ricciardo at five races – to determine whether he was good enough to race for the junior team full-time. He stacked up well against Yuki Tsunoda in that stretch and scored a couple of points.

That suggests Christian Horner and Helmut Marko want to evaluate whether he’s good enough to replace Perez at Red Bull instead. The Mexican’s miserable 2024 campaign has severely hampered the team’s efforts to defend their constructors’ title.

When RB announced the line-up change on Thursday, they didn’t make reference to 2025. This seemingly confirms that Lawson’s future is still to be determined.

Red Bull contemplated dropping Perez during the summer break, but he survived. Ricciardo lacked consistency, and Lawson was perhaps seen as too much of an unknown quantity.

Liam Lawson implies he’s targeting full-time RB seat for 2025

During an interview with Newstalk ZB, Lawson was asked what he needed to do earn a 2025 contract. He feels that emulating his 2023 form will be enough.

Intriguingly, he also suggested that his goal was to lock down the RB seat alongside Tsunoda. A move to Red Bull may not be at the forefront of his mind.

Publicly discussing the possibility of ousting Perez would have been ill-judged. But equally, Lawson could have spoken in more open terms about what the future will look like.

“I need to perform basically to try and show my worth in F1 and I would say do a similar job to last year,” he said. “That’s what’s given me the shot now. I just need to do enough to stay in the seat next year.”

How Sergio Perez is already ‘in breach of contract’ at Red Bull

It may make sense for Red Bull to stick with what they have for 2025. It would give them a full year to evaluate Lawson, and they need clarity on Max Verstappen’s plans.

Verstappen can activate an exit clause in his contract next year ahead of the regulation changes. If he leaves, Red Bull may need a drastic rethink.

While Lawson is clearly an exciting talent, there could also be some more established options on the market in the next 12 months. Indeed, Christian Horner is already courting George Russell, who’s entering the final year of his Mercedes contract.

All the while, Red Bull have the option to make an immediate change. That’s because Perez is ‘in breach of contract’, having failed to score enough points before the summer break.