RB boss Laurent Mekies shares what Liam Lawson has done this season that really impressed him

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With Formula 1 action returning to the Netherlands, Liam Lawson will have fond memories of the circuit after his whirlwind debut last season.

The Dutch Grand Prix was expected to be the third race of Daniel Ricciardo’s comeback story in F1 last year after replacing Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri.

However, when he took avoiding action after Oscar Piastri’s spin in practice, he broke his hand and suddenly Liam Lawson was thrust into the limelight.

Lawson managed to get some practice laps under his belt and although he qualified last, he was less than 10 seconds away from scoring a point on his debut.

The 22-year-old Kiwi did manage to score points at the Singapore Grand Prix and out-qualified Max Verstappen that weekend, but handed Ricciardo his car back after five outings.

RB team principal Laurent Mekies spoke to RacingNews365 about the role that Lawson had been fulfilling this year.

Lawson couldn’t secure a race seat for 2024, instead sitting in the paddock every race weekend as Red Bull and RB’s reserve driver.

Mekies has now shared what’s left him very impressed by Lawson throughout this season despite not even being allowed to run in free practice sessions.

That’s because Lawson is no longer considered a rookie by F1, unlike Oliver Bearman, who is still allowed to take part in these sessions with Haas before his full debut in 2025.

READ MORE: Who is Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Laurent Mekies on what Liam Lawson has done to really impress him this season

Talking about the youngster, Mekies said: “We have a super competitive duo with a fantastic talent that is waiting, and does that play a role in the first half of the season’s success?

“Yes, Daniel has helped to massively put us up and Liam with the work in the background is one of the things that we have been enjoying when we returned to Europe.

“We could use Liam in the simulator and then he could fly to the race, and so the three of them are pushing the team but we will have to make the call soon enough.”

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Helmut Marko has given a deadline on announcing Liam Lawson’s Red Bull future

It’s not quite as simple as suggesting that Lawson will be driving for RB or not in 2025.

Lawson has a clause in his contract that requires Red Bull to offer him a seat or let him leave for free by the end of next month.

Red Bull were considering replacing Sergio Perez with Lawson at one point, but that looks unlikely at this stage.

The more obvious move for Lawson is to join Yuki Tsunoda at RB with Ricciardo either earning a promotion or losing his seat on the grid altogether.

There are outside forces at play too, with Audi also linked with Lawson, particularly as Jonathan Wheatley heads to the German team ahead of their entry in 2026 who has previously worked with the 22-year-old.

With just a handful of seats left on the grid for 2024, Red Bull could call Lawson’s bluff and not offer him a seat for next year and then hope he decides not to activate the clause in his contract because there aren’t any available options.

This would allow them to be flexible heading into 2025, especially if Ricciardo or Perez’s form doesn’t pick up.

Marko has shared that Lawson’s future will become clear in September but everyone is playing a waiting game to find out exactly what that means.