Liam Lawson now ‘not in contention’ for one F1 seat after post-Silverstone filming day

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Liam Lawson has been the name on the lips of many Red Bull fans in recent weeks, with pressure growing on two of their drivers on the Formula 1 grid.

Sergio Perez has two races to avoid clauses in his Red Bull contract being activated that would allow Christian Horner to drop him before the Dutch Grand Prix.

Perez has been way below par for some time and the announcement of his new contract at the Canadian Grand Prix took many people by surprise.

He’s not the only driver struggling to convince right now, with Daniel Ricciardo’s future at sister team RB also very uncertain.

The Australian is the only driver in the Red Bull quartet who hasn’t signed a new deal for 2025 and needs to up his game to earn that next contract.

Liam Lawson has been suggested as a replacement for Perez after the summer break, completely bypassing the RB team.

Senior Red Bull management have been impressed by Lawson and that could earn him a return to the grid after his cameo with AlphaTauri last season.

However, journalist Mat Coch was speaking on the Pit Talk Podcast about the New Zealand driver’s prospects.

Lawson took part in a filming day after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone that gave Red Bull a chance to assess the 22-year-old in the RB20.

Opportunities to drive the current generation of cars are incredibly limited and Lawson’s previous races with AlphaTauri prevent him from taking part in FP1 sessions this season like other rookies.

However, Coch believes that Lawson isn’t in contention to replace Perez at Red Bull this season.

Instead, he might be placed at RB with one of their current drivers being promoted should the 34-year-old be moved on.

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Liam Lawson ‘not in contention’ to replace Sergio Perez after Red Bull filming day

Comparing Liam Lawson’s recent filming day to the test last year that earned Daniel Ricciardo a seat on the grid, Coch said: “There hasn’t been [the same hype] but the caveat being that it was wet so getting any meaningful data out of it is difficult.

“You couldn’t like for like his lap versus what happened at the Grand Prix a couple of days earlier so those comparisons were out of the window.

“You’re right, there hasn’t been the hype but I also seem to think he’s not in contention for the Red Bull drive, at best he’s looking at RB should Daniel Ricciardo be moved up if [Sergio] Perez is sacked.

“There’s a lot of ifs in that, I don’t think we can take too much out of that, it’s essentially Red Bull getting a read on him to make a decision given that his contract clause is up in September.”

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Liam Lawson may not be in contention to replace Perez but he appears to be edging closer to a more permanent return to the Formula 1 grid.

Red Bull’s academy setup is brutal with Helmut Marko constantly monitoring the progress of every young driver they support.

Marko has said that two drivers below Lawson have Formula 1 quality but they’ve still got a long way to go until they’re racing at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Lawson has survived that ascent up the ranks at Red Bull and could now reap the benefits with Red Bull the only manufacturer who have four cars on the grid, making a promotion much more likely than if he was part of a different academy.

Red Bull rushing Lawson into the car would be a risk, particularly with Max Verstappen struggling to win both championships single-handedly at this stage.

The lack of faith in Yuki Tsunoda or Ricciardo at Red Bull does create an intriguing conundrum but should see the young Kiwi making a return to the grid sooner rather than later.