Liam Lawson will want to hear about when Red Bull will now ‘decide’ on their 2026 F1 line-up

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Liam Lawson’s Formula 1 future hangs in the balance as Red Bull continue to take their time before deciding on their driver line-up for 2026.

The Kiwi has shown over the last few weeks that he is capable of achieving big results and sits above one of Red Bull’s stars in the drivers’ championship. He is considered to be one of the full-time rookies on the grid for this year, and the experience he has gathered will have made him a better driver.

Heading into the 2026 F1 regulations, it’s hard to see which way Red Bull will decide to go with their drivers. Lawson is a little younger than Yuki Tsunoda, but the latter has been around for five seasons. It boils down to who they believe in more.

Red Bull have been told to give Lawson a second chance, sparing Isack Hadjar from being promoted into a highly pressured environment too soon. But Tsunoda’s Honda connection is an advantage that no one else has. It could really count for him.

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Liam Lawson will be intrigued to hear 2026 Red Bull decision will come ‘before’ Abu Dhabi

Lawson thinks he benefited from a Red Bull demotion at the start of the season, which saw him dropped by the team after just two races. It might have seemed harsh at the time, but it might have been better for his development.

Currently, there’s a fear that Red Bull could lose out on £38 million by dropping Tsunoda, and that might be why their original decision date of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend has been pushed back a little bit.

However, The Race’s Scott Mitchell-Malm has now provided an update after speaking to Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies after the last race in Mexico City – it’s something that Lawson will want to hear.

“The way it is now, certainly the way it’s being framed, because I asked Laurent Mekies, the team principal, about this after the race in Mexico,” he said. “They’ve decided to take more time with it. Their intention is still to decide before the end of the season, and that means basically before Abu Dhabi.

“I think they’ll run more races, basically. Whether that means just Brazil, and then doing it before the triple-header. Or it means giving them Vegas and Qatar as well, and just deciding in the week before Abu Dhabi. Not really sure.”

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Has Liam Lawson already justified earning an F1 seat over Yuki Tsunoda for 2026?

Looking at their performances, the main thing that stands out between Lawson and Tsunoda is their standing in the drivers’ championship.

Lawson is two places higher in 15th, after driving what is theoretically a much slower car for the majority of the campaign.

Max Verstappen has the Red Bull contending for the title, but Lawson struggled more than Tsunoda has at any point when he was in the seat at the start of the campaign.

Helmut Marko won’t be impressed by Lawson, but he’s likely to prefer him to stick around over his Japanese rival, given the potential he has shown at times in 2025.