The race where Red Bull ‘internally’ expect Liam Lawson to join F1 grid

Follow us on Google Discover

Liam Lawson is perhaps closer to breaking into Formula 1 than anybody else right now. Oliver Bearman will join the grid with Haas in 2025, and the New Zealander could be the second rookie to feature.

Like Bearman, of course, Lawson has already made his F1 debut. He took part in five races for AlphaTauri (now RB) last season after Daniel Ricciardo broke his wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix.

But he may be able to do better than the junior team. Remarkably, Lawson is in contention to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull midway through the season.

Having watched on from the sidelines – no doubt with frustration – for the first half of the year, he could soon be Max Verstappen’s teammate. Red Bull were able to put him through his paces in a nominal ‘filming day’ after the British GP.

Reports on his performance have varied. One claimed that Red Bull engineers were ‘slightly underwhelmed’ after he fell a couple of tenths short of the benchmark that they’d set.

But there are important mitigating circumstances. He’s hardly driven an F1 car recently, he was running on Pirelli ‘Academy’ tyres rather than conventional rubber and he was limited to just over 30 laps by the regulations.

Liam Lawson expected to be on the grid for Dutch Grand Prix

According to ESPN, Red Bull did indeed use the aforementioned Silverstone outing to ‘evaluate Lawson’s pace’. And even if he didn’t set the timesheets alight, he’s kept himself at the forefront of the team’s thinking.

Indeed, the ‘belief internally’ is that he’ll be on the grid ‘in some capacity’ for the Dutch GP straight after the summer break. This information comes from a source with ‘knowledge of the situation’.

It’s unclear, then, whether Lawson will be stepping in for Perez or Ricciardo. That will depend on which team is in the ‘most pressing situation’.

The good news for the 22-year-old is that he’s already experienced driving an F1 car around Zandvoort. He finished an impressive 13th place there last year after his last-minute call-up.

Lawson negotiating with RB competitors in case Red Bull don’t give him a seat

As it stands right now, Red Bull’s predicament appears more ‘pressing’. If Perez can’t significantly improve the form that’s delivered just 15 points in six races, they could give up their constructors’ title.

But equally, the situation could look very different in just over a week’s time after another couple of races. By that point, RB may have relinquished sixth in the championship to Haas.

Indeed, the American outfit are now just four points behind after back-to-back P6 finishes for Nico Hulkenberg. Yuki Tsunoda is responsible for 64.5% of his team’s tally this year, so he could do with more help from the sister car.

Much as he’ll be dreaming of Red Bull, the likelihood is that Lawson would immediately accept an offer to race for RB too. The team know that, from September onwards, he’s contractually entitled to leave if he’s still without a confirmed seat.

Lawson is in negotiations with Audi over potentially racing for Sauber next year. Sensibly, he’s working on contingency plans in case Red Bull decide to stick with what they have.