Liam Lawson's road back to Red Bull hinges on Max’s Verstappen penalty points

Monday, 9 June 2025

Max Verstappen has finished 10th and one place ahead of Liam Lawson in the Spanish Grand Prix after being hit with a 10 second time penalty.

Unceremoniously dumped two races into the Formula 1 season, Liam Lawson’s time in Red Bull colours could yet be extended.

The 23-year-old Kiwi, who has been back with the energy drinks manufacturer’s junior team Racing Bulls since the Japanese Grand Prix, could potentiality earn a temporary reprieve to the top table.

Reigning and four time world champion Max Verstappen is on edge and on the verge of a race ban that would force Red Bull into a driver reshuffle to find a replacement to partner Yuki Tsunoda.

If Verstappen incurs one more penalty point on his FIA super licence at either this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix or the Austrian Grand Prix on June 30th, he will be handed a one-race suspension.

Given Verstappen’s frustration at the McLaren dominance, irritations with the performance of his own car and his collision with George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend, the threat of suspension is a definite possibility.

If Max Verstappen is suspended, Liam Lawson could well be the man to replace him.

Despite Lawson’s rookie team-mate at Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar, enjoying an incredible run to begin his first F1 season, multiple media outlets are reporting the Kiwi driver to be right in the mix, given he drove the RB21 as Verstappen’s team-mate for the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix.

It appears Red Bull will be happy to play the long game with Hadjar and if Ayumu Iwasa, who fills Lawson’s old role as reserve driver for both Red Bull and Racing Bulls, is called upon, it would be in a Racing Bulls machine.

The other option is academy driver and Formula 2 star Arvid Lindblad, who Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has recently endorsed for an F1 future, with the team reportedly applying for a super licence exemption to enable him to drive in F1 before he turns 18 in August.

'If he continues like this, we can expect him to move up to Formula 1. He may only be 17 years old, but he's also a tremendous talent,' Marko said.

Verstappen’s latest penalty points came in Spain following the incident with Russell that sparked calls for the Dutchman to be both banned and black flagged.

Following an earlier incident between the pair, Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase advised him to give the place back but that advice was not taken. Russell went to drive around the outside figuring the spot would be given back and the pair made contact.

Up in the commentary box, 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg immediately called for a disqualification.

“Seriously bad. He (Verstappen) just rams him, full on. You need to black-flag that – there is no other way,” Rosberg said.

Post race, Russell said he was not shocked by Verstappen’s actions, describing him as a “win-it-or-bin-it kind of guy”.

It was one of a number of transgressions from Verstappen in recent times, hence why he is riding a fine line with penalty points.