Significant Liam Lawson update issued by Helmut Marko with announcement on way

Liam Lawson’s immediate future in F1 is set to be clarified by Red Bull in the coming weeks, Helmut Marko has confirmed.

The Kiwi has been angling to find a way into a full-time Formula 1 seat for over a year, and Red Bull’s Helmut Marko has teased that a decision regarding his future is imminent.

Helmut Marko confirms Liam Lawson future to be clarified

Last year, the Red Bull junior got his first taste of Formula 1 action when he stepped into Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri when the Australian driver suffered a hand injury that left him sidelined for five races.

During his spell as a super-sub, Lawson impressed mightily – particularly as he scored a ninth-place points finish in a gruelling Singapore Grand Prix. But, with Ricciardo being given the nod for the full-time seat in 2024, Lawson has been left on the sidelines as the reserve driver for the two Red Bull teams.

With Ricciardo having a slow start to the year, Lawson was then linked with the Australian’s seat before Ricciardo improved through the middle of the season. Both drivers have since been rumoured as being a possibility to slot into the Red Bull in place of the struggling Sergio Perez, only for Red Bull to confirm the continuation of the status quo when the season resumes in Zandvoort.

But the time is ticking for Red Bull to make a decision over what to do with Lawson – the option on his contract is understood to be lapsing in September and, with the Kiwi driver a figure of interest for Audi’s second seat alongside Nico Hulkenberg, his future with Red Bull needs to be clarified.

And that’s exactly what is going to happen, according to Helmut Marko, who wrote in his column for Speedweek this week that Red Bull, following them giving Lawson a recent filming day with the Red Bull RB20 and a testing of previous car (TPC) outing at Imola with a 2022 AlphaTauri last week, will outline their plans for Lawson in September.

“We will announce what happens next with Liam Lawson in September,” he said.

“The fact that he was able to gain more Formula 1 kilometres of experience in Imola had been planned for some time. Even if the competition would like to use him on loan, he is not available for that.”

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With Marko confirming Lawson won’t be available on loan, this would suggest the Kiwi driver has been assured of a seat for next season – the logical place to assume would be the second VCARB seat alongside the already confirmed Yuki Tsunoda.

This leads to the obvious question of what is happening with Daniel Ricciardo, if Lawson is given the VCARB seat. Is the Australian set to step up in place of Sergio Perez, who recently signed a new two-year deal with the Milton Keynes-based squad, or is Ricciardo being released in order to find opportunities elsewhere?

What seems most likely at present is a promotion for Lawson, with Marko also suggesting that Formula 2 junior Isack Hadjar is set to succeed Lawson as the reserve driver for the two Red Bull squads.

“Our Formula 2 driver Isack Hadjar took his fourth victory in the top formula racing class at Spa,” Marko said.

“He clearly has the potential for Formula 1. We’ll see how everything develops, but he will certainly take on a role of some kind. It could be that, like Lawson, he will spend a year as a test and simulator driver.”

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