Red Bull partners ‘sealed the deal’ for Liam Lawson by saying they didn’t want Yuki Tsunoda

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Liam Lawson discovered after the Qatar Grand Prix that he would retain his place on the Formula 1 grid for 2026. He will stay on at Racing Bulls for another year.

Lawson has rebuilt his standing within the Red Bull family after lasting just two races alongside Max Verstappen at the start of the year. The race for the final seat on the grid came down to the New Zealander and his former teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Red Bull want Lawson to mentor Arvid Lindblad, the 18-year-old who will step up to the Faenza team from Racing Bulls. Tsunoda stays within the set-up, but only as reserve driver.

“[I found out] after the race in Qatar, actually,” Lawson said on Thursday, via Adam Cooper on X. “I didn’t know before the weekend.

“As much as I was trying to find out during the weekend, it was after the race. And it was cool because Alan [Permane, team principal] as well was the one who told me.”

Ford played crucial role in Liam Lawson landing 2026 Racing Bulls seat

When Tsunoda and Lawson were teammates at Racing Bulls, the former had the edge, albeit with far more experience in the car.

But while Tsunoda was statistically underachieving next to Verstappen, Lawson increasingly looked like a solid midfield driver at Racing Bulls. In that sense, the latter may actually have benefited from losing his Red Bull drive.

The consensus is that the Racing Bulls car is easier to drive than the Red Bull, and Lawson also seemed more comfortable in a lower-pressure environment. The news that he has won the battle with Tsunoda doesn’t come as a surprise.

Indeed, Lawson featured heavily in Ford’s marketing for 2026 as they prepare to enter F1, which may have been a hint about the line-up plans. The American giants will supply engines to both Red Bull and Racing Bulls next year.

And speaking to sport.de, F1 reporter Felix Gorner revealed: “Ford has no interest in Tsunoda. The promotion and the millions from Japan are gone. That sealed the deal.”

Why Yuki Tsunoda won’t be making IndyCar move after Red Bull axe

Red Bull rejected a lucrative offer from Honda that could have kept Tsunoda on the grid. There were major financial incentives tied to promoting him in the first place.

But ultimately, a team of their stature does not need to be governed by commercial considerations. Keeping Tsunoda as a reserve ensures that they will have access to Honda-powered cars for their TPC programme.

In addition to these duties, Tsunoda has been linked with a move to IndyCar, which would allow him to remain active while pursuing a route back onto the F1 grid.

Honda supply engines to the Dale Coyne Racing team, but journalist Marshall Pruett doesn’t expect them to shell out to get Tsunoda a seat.

“On Coyne and Tsunoda, you might have noticed we never mentioned it in any of our silly season pieces, and that’s because it was a nothingburger,” he wrote for RACER.

“If Coyne wants to hire [Red Bull reserve Ayumu] Iwasa, he will, but as Honda is entering the last year of its IndyCar engine supply contract, it isn’t going out and offering teams $8m-10m (£6m-£7.5m) to run someone.”