Red Bull bosses want to keep Liam Lawson for 2026, but not because of his results

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Liam Lawson was one of the stars of qualifying at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend, lining up on the third row. But he’d fall to 14th in the race, well outside of the points.

Lawson blamed his regression on a poor start at the ‘extremely slippery’ turn one, where he made contact with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. As Isack Hadjar showed by finishing eighth (which became sixth after the McLaren disqualifications), the Racing Bulls car was quick enough to be well inside the points.

The mistake is untimely for Lawson, one of the last remaining drivers on the 2025 grid who doesn’t yet know where he’ll be racing next year. The consensus is that he’s battling current Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda for the final spot at Racing Bulls.

In Vegas, Tsunoda failed to score for the fourth time in his last five starts. He remains eight points behind Lawson in the championship.

Red Bull want Liam Lawson to ‘mentor’ Arvid Lindblad

According to the New Zealand Herald, the decision-makers at Red Bull ‘want Lawson to remain’ at Racing Bulls for 2026.

With Hadjar promoted to Red Bull and Arvid Lindblad succeeding the Frenchman at Racing Bulls, this reshuffle will see Yuki Tsunoda drop off the grid.

Red Bull see Lawson as a ‘mentor’ figure for Lindblad, viewed internally as ‘the next Max Verstappen’.

Lawson only has 33 races of experience in F1, though these have come over three different seasons. He’s also experienced the Red Bull environment, albeit briefly, and has become a case study in responding to adversity.

Lindblad will become only the fifth driver aged 18 or younger to race in F1 after Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli, Lance Stroll and Verstappen.

Jenson Button highlights the biggest reason Yuki Tsunoda is losing his seat

While Lawson would sooner be kept on based on his results alone, the most important thing is that he gets to stay on the grid. Indeed, as the report notes, he can put himself ‘in the shop window for another team’.

Aware that he has ‘little to no’ chance of returning to Red Bull, Lawson can afford to shop the market a little more next year, when there will be far more seats available.

Ted Kravitz has sympathy for Tsunoda, arguing that Lawson’s revival at Racing Bulls proves that the Red Bull car is the problem.

But Jenson Button says Red Bull won’t win the constructors’ championship with Tsunoda, and they will keep putting new drivers alongside Verstappen until they find another winning combination.