By outdoor-nature-child.com Red Bull Racing has announced that New Zealander Liam Lawson will race for the team in the final six rounds of the season, with team principal Christian Horner emphasizing that this could be a pivotal opportunity for Lawson to potentially take over Sergio Pérez’s seat and partner with Max Verstappen next season.
In a recent interview, Horner explained that the decision to replace Daniel Ricciardo with Lawson at their sister team, AlphaTauri, stemmed from Ricciardo’s inability to show the form necessary for a return to Red Bull. Consequently, the team is giving the 22-year-old Lawson a chance to demonstrate his abilities during the remainder of the season.
“All the drivers are under pressure to deliver,” Horner said. “Daniel’s role was to regain his footing and be ready to step in if Checo [Pérez] wasn’t performing. We need to gather information for the bigger picture concerning our drivers, and this is the perfect opportunity for Liam to showcase his skills alongside Yuki [Tsunoda] in these final six grands prix.”
While Verstappen leads the drivers’ championship, Red Bull has slipped behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings, partly due to Pérez’s struggles in a car that has been strong this season. Since the Chinese Grand Prix in April, Pérez has not reached the podium and currently sits eighth in the championship.
Earlier this year, Red Bull extended Pérez’s contract, hoping to bolster his confidence, but that strategy has not yielded the expected results. There is a clause in Pérez’s contract that allows the team to release him if he falls more than 100 points behind Verstappen—a situation he currently finds himself in.
Horner, along with Red Bull’s motorsport director Helmut Marko, has expressed disappointment in Pérez’s recent performances. Marko pointed out a missed opportunity in Spa, where Pérez failed to convert his second-place starting position into a solid result.
Horner also acknowledged Marko’s concerns about Ricciardo’s performance, leading the team to consider younger talent for the future: “While we have a contract with Sergio for next year, it’s essential to keep an eye on what’s coming next. Is Liam the answer? Should we be looking outside our current lineup? Or could one of our other junior drivers, like Isack Hadjar or Arvid Lindblad, rise to the occasion?”
As the season progresses, all eyes will be on Lawson’s performance, which could significantly influence the future of Red Bull Racing’s driver lineup.