What Red Bull staff are now saying ‘behind the scenes’ about Liam Lawson’s 2025 chances

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Liam Lawson arrives in Mexico looking to build on a fine return at the US Grand Prix. Lawson finished ninth in Austin, his first appearance since replacing Daniel Ricciardo at RB.

That would have been an impressive result regardless of where he’d qualified. But Lawson came from the back of the grid after a series of engine penalties, executing a hard-medium counterstrategy to perfection.

This has significantly increased the pressure on Sergio Perez ahead of his home race. Perez produced the kind of performance Red Bull have become used to, qualifying 10th and finishing seventh while his teammate fought in the podium places.

Red Bull staff are ‘praying’ for Perez to retire, which would be the ‘cleanest’ solution at this point. He signed a contract extension in June but his poor performances have enabled the team to activate a break clause.

Perez’s camp remains extremely bullish, with his father Antonio expressing renewed confidence that he’ll become a world champion. But the strong suspicion is that this will be his final visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as an F1 driver.

Ominously for the 34-year-old, Lawson should be even better prepared for this weekend’s race. It was his first taste of Austin, but he drove in Mexico as part of an FP1 appearance for AlphaTauri, RB’s predecessors, in 2022.

Liam Lawson in pole position for Red Bull seat ahead of Mexican Grand Prix

According to f1-insider, Lawson ‘created great spirits among the Red Bull grandees’ with his fightback in Texas. They note that he ‘outshone’ both Perez and teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 14th despite starting in the top 10.

‘Behind the scenes’, Red Bull staff are now saying that ‘Lawson has won the yellow jersey’. This is a reference to the attire donned by the leader of the Tour de France.

There are still five rounds left in the season, including two more Sprint weekends. Lawson will benefit from having the standard programme of three practice sessions in Mexico.

Red Bull may wait until after the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi before they make their final decision. Because all of the contenders are in their pool anyway, they don’t need to rush.

F1 press conference host ‘convinced’ Liam Lawson will replace Sergio Perez on one condition

RB CEO Peter Bayer thanked Helmut Marko, the man responsible for the driver change, after the US GP. The team seemed to view him as an instant upgrade on Ricciardo.

Indeed, the eight-time Grand Prix winner only scored points on three Sundays before losing his seat, and it took him until Austria to do so. It’s not inconceivable that Lawson matches or even surpasses his tally of 12 before the end of the season.

But this is precisely why Red Bull made the change when they did. They wanted a reasonable sample size, so they won’t be jumping to too many conclusions after one race.

F1 press conference host Tom Clarkson is convinced Lawson will drive for Red Bull next year. All he has to do in Clarkson’s eyes is maintain his Austin level, and theoretically, he should get even better.