New Zealander Liam Lawson will “definitely” be on the 2025 grid, according to Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko, heaping pressure on Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Pérez to save their careers.
Lawson has long been rumoured to have a clause in his contract that would allow him to do a deal with another team were Red Bull not to offer him a full-time contract by September.
The future Audi team, currently competing as Sauber, was rumoured to be a possible destination, with the squad’s former management said to have taken an interest in the talented Kiwi.
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But Marko, who has long presided over Red Bull’s junior driver program, quashed speculation that Lawson would be allowed to slip through the net.
“Next year he will definitely be driving one of our cars,” he told Austrian paper Kleine Zeitung ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
The declaration has come earlier than expected, with Marko having suggested to ESPN earlier this month that a decision wouldn’t be made until September.
Marko notably left ambiguous which Red Bull team Lawson would race for, turning the screws on both Pérez at Red Bull Racing and Ricciardo at RB ahead of a critical four-round swing that could end the career of one of the two veterans.
Noise surrounding Pérez’s future in Formula 1 has been building for months, with the Mexican’s dire form and paltry points haul described as “unsustainable” by team principal Christian Horner.
On his current scoring trajectory Red Bull Racing will lose the constructors championship lead to McLaren by the end of September.
The team resolved during the mid-season break to retain Pérez for at least another four rounds despite expectations he would be axed, with management believing more can be done to restore the six-time winner’s confidence and return him to his podium-worthy performances of March and April.
“If Checo consistently brings his normal speed, we are happy,” Marko said. “But he always has these fluctuations somewhere, whether in qualifying or a certain part of the race.
“The consistency is not there, that’s the problem.”
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Ricciardo, meanwhile, resumes from the mid-season break eager to continue the upswing in form of recent months that guaranteed him his RB seat until at least the end of the season.
The Australian started his make-or-break 2024 campaign struggling for consistency and easily bested by teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but the tables have gradually turned since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, with Ricciardo now in the ascendancy.
Speaking ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix on Thursday, Ricciardo said his future was still in his hands.
“I have every opportunity in front of me, and that’s the beauty,” he said, per the F1 website. “It’s up to me.
“I know there is always pressure and there is the Red Bull system, but I know if I do the job, then I will have a seat. I’ll have somewhere to race.”
This weekend’s race will be Ricciardo’s first in the Netherlands since 2022, having missed last year’s event after breaking his hand during practice.
Lawson was called up to replace him for a five-race spell during which the Kiwi impressed, in particular by scoring his maiden points at the Singapore Grand Prix, one of the most difficult events on the calendar.
Ricciardo said the stint as his substitute proved he deserved a spot on the grid next season.
“I saw him competing in the car when I was on the sidelines and I think he did a great job and he is worthy of a seat,” he said.
“From a place of competitive respect I think he does deserve one, so if he is in the sport next year, I think that’s a good thing.”
The only way both Ricciardo and Lawson could race on the 2025 grid would be if one of them were to replace Pérez at Red Bull Racing.
If Pérez were to hold his seat — the Mexican signed a contract extension earlier this season covering 2025, albeit with performance-related exit clauses — Ricciardo would almost certainly have to make way for the young gun.
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That would likely spell the end of Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career, with few seats left uncommitted for 2025.
Mercedes is expected promote Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Formula 2, while Alpine is tipped to hand reserve driver Jack Doohan his F1 debut.
The only remaining seat is at Sauber-run future Audi team, where Valtteri Bottas is believed to be closing in on a new deal.
Ricciardo has previously insisted that he intends to end his career as a Red Bull driver, and he reiterated again that he hasn’t been pursuing fallback options if he were to be dropped at the end of the year.
“I’ve been very targeted on the Red Bull family and staying here, so I haven’t allowed myself to think of other opportunities, other teams,” he said. “You can say in a way it’s very narrow-minded, but it’s where I am and where I feel I want to be.
“I got back into the Red Bull system. I want to be here. For me, not having other distractions is nice. I can focus on what I need to do, and I know if I get the results, I stay in the family. It’s as simple as that.
“Having more of a singular focus is a little bit easier. It’s like an all-in approach.
“I’ve obviously done a bit of jumping around the last few years and that in itself can be tiring.
“I’ve worked my way back to this place and also Red Bull has given me the opportunity to be back here, so it’s not something I just want to dismiss and say: ‘Okay, well, what’s next?’
“There is no next thing for me. This is it.”
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