Liam Lawson’s Red Bull future about more than just results – Alex Powell
THE FACTS
As and when Liam Lawson is confirmed to remain with Racing Bulls in 2026, the decision will come down to more than what he’s done on track.
The Herald understands that Red Bull are increasingly in favour of keeping the Kiwi in their stable for next season, as a means of ensuring they have at least one experienced driver within their junior ranks.
To the casual observer, the move might seem strange.
While it would have been hoped that 2025 would be Lawson’s year – having held off both Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez to be named a Red Bull driver – it’s been anything but.
Struggles in Melbourne and Shanghai instead convinced Red Bull that they’d been too hasty in promoting the 23-year-old, moving him back to Racing Bulls, their junior side.
Since then, he’s had to rebuild – and at the halfway point of the season, he’s doing just that.
From 12 races, 10 of them with Racing Bulls, Lawson sits 16th in the drivers championship after points finishes in Monaco and Austria. In comparison, teammate Isack Hadjar is 11th in his rookie season, nine points clear of Lawson.
It’s for that reason, though, that Hadjar appears the front-runner for promotion to Red Bull ahead of the Kiwi, at a time when the team are seeking certainty from soon-to-be-former world champion Max Verstappen.
On the surface, Lawson has been outperformed by Hadjar at every turn. While Lawson has two points finishes, the 20-year-old rookie has five, even if he’s not scored since crossing the line seventh in Spain.
But what Lawson adds away from the track is where his value truly lies.
Since signing with Red Bull as a 17-year-old, Lawson has consistently proven to be a world-class hand in aiding in car development.
As both a test and reserve driver, Red Bull are understood to have been impressed with how Lawson is able to understand a car’s strengths and weaknesses, and where improvements can be made.
It’s part of the reason why he was promoted to Red Bull – perhaps prematurely – ahead of Tsunoda at the end of 2024, after the call was made to drop Perez.
However, it’s what Lawson has added to Racing Bulls this year that’s seen his true value come to the fore.
Since moving back, Lawson has acted as a mentor for Hadjar, as the team’s senior figure, and taken on a leadership role within the environment.
That leadership has increased Lawson’s value within both Red Bull and Racing Bulls, and will come to the fore in the future, as teenage sensation Arvid Lindblad is lined up to step up from Formula Two in 2026.
It does, though, lead to questions about Lawson’s long-term future with Red Bull.
Pierre Gasly was used in a similar role after his demotion from Red Bull to then-Toro Rosso in 2019. There, he mentored Tsunoda from 2021, until he departed for Alpine at the end of 2023.
Having Gasly as a senior figure helped Tsunoda adjust to the rigours of Formula One, before his eventual promotion to Red Bull at Lawson’s expense earlier this year.
But if Lawson’s role is now to simply be a pillar of support to Red Bull’s up-and-coming talent – a tag he himself used to hold – how long will he give himself before looking elsewhere?
Lawson has always been adamant he wants to be a world champion – and that he wants to do it with Red Bull.
However, if – like Gasly – he’s deemed more of an asset in the junior team, only Lawson himself can decide if the juice is worth the squeeze.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.