Liam Lawson is ‘under pressure’ to save F1 seat with Racing Bulls replacement ‘knocking on the door’

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Liam Lawson has a clear target to achieve to save his Formula 1 seat, as F2 gem Nikola Tsolov is knocking on the door to earn a promotion to Racing Bulls in the 2027 season.

Red Bull put their junior team’s driver line-up on shuffle once again this year, as Racing Bulls welcomed Arvid Lindblad for his F1 debut racing alongside Lawson after Isack Hadjar moved to the brand’s top team. Lawson fended off competition from Yuki Tsunoda to keep his seat.

Lawson fought to save his F1 career throughout the 2025 season, after being demoted back to Racing Bulls after just two rounds for Red Bull at the start of the campaign. But it appears that the 24-year-old is still not guaranteed a long-term place, despite a strong start to 2026.

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has praised Lawson for starting to “eliminate” his mistakes in qualifying this year, having lacked consistency in 2025. The Kiwi has also scored points in three of the first five Grands Prix in 2026 as the second-best Red Bull family driver.

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Liam Lawson must outperform Arvid Lindblad, with Nikola Tsolov waiting for a Racing Bulls seat

Only Max Verstappen with 43 points has scored more points among the Red Bull family than Lawson has so far this year, with the Racing Bulls racer racking up 16 points ahead of Hadjar with 14 and Lindblad with five. Yet Lindblad could still leave Lawson on the market this year.

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That is according to SoyMotor, which reports that Lawson is ‘under pressure’ to retain his F1 drive. Lawson’s place at Racing Bulls would also become even more uneasy if Lindblad starts to outperform the Kiwi during the Briton’s rookie season, as Tsolov is waiting to move to F1.

Tsolov is ‘knocking on the door’ to debut in F1 as soon as 2027, as an opportunity for him to join Racing Bulls ‘could arise’ given his performances in F2 this term. The 19-year-old is third in the 2026 F2 standings after the first three rounds, in what is his first full term in the field.

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Campos gave Tsolov his F2 debut towards the end of 2025 and saw the Bulgarian secure his maiden podium in the junior category with P3 in the Sprint Race in Abu Dhabi. Tsolov even started 2026 by scoring his first Feature Race win in Australia and Sprint Race win in Miami.

So, Lawson will have to maintain a clear advantage over Lindblad at Racing Bulls in 2026 for him to show Red Bull that he deserves a new contract for 2027, with Tsolov already waiting in the wings for his F1 debut. Red Bull only gave Lawson a new deal for 2026 last December.

Lawson has so far led Racing Bulls’ efforts this season on the back of his latest contract, but some doubts have also started to appear. Jacques Villeneuve already feels Lindblad has put Lawson under pressure, underlined by the rookie’s P8 in the Canada Sprint to the Kiwi’s P11.