Formula 1: Red Bull hint Liam Lawson v Sergio Perez decision to be announced in coming days

Red Bull senior adviser Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed a decision over the team’s 2025 Formula One driver pairings will be announced in the coming days.

In the wake of a season that saw Red Bull surrender their constructors championship crown, the future of incumbent Sergio Perez has come under the microscope.

While Max Verstappen claimed a fourth straight drivers title with 437 points and nine wins, Perez finished 285 points behind his teammate.

Before the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it was widely reported that Red Bull had made the decision to part ways with Perez, paving the way for New Zealand’s Liam Lawson to step into the vacant seat.

However, given Red Bull only handed Perez a contract extension earlier this year, the 34-year-old is understood to be digging his heels in, and demanding a lucrative payout to leave the organisation.

After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Red Bull’s shareholders met to discuss the future of the team, and finalise line-ups for the 2025 season.

And writing in his regular column for German outlet Speedweek, Marko confirmed that while a decision has been made, official confirmation can be expected soon.

“We will be announcing news on the driver pairing for next year in the next few days,” Marko said.

“There’s a lot of speculation about this, including rumours about possible transfer fees, which are complete nonsense.”

Earlier this week, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner confirmed that should the team part ways with Perez, his successor will only be one of Lawson or Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

The 22-year-old Kiwi was only guaranteed the final six races of 2024 with Racing Bulls. However, it is widely understood those six races were a means of stress testing Lawson to ascertain if he’s ready to step up alongside Verstappen next year.

Lawson’s primary instruction in his stint was to better teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s results, however, the Kiwi lost that head to head 4-2, despite taking a 4-1 lead in a five-race spell in 2023.

Lawson has also been backed by many names in and outside of Red Bull’s ranks. Racing Bulls engineer Pierre Hamelin, who also worked with Verstappen during his career infancy, told the Herald Lawson was ready to advance into Red Bull’s top team.

Similarly, Jos Verstappen – father of Max – was also complimentary of Lawson’s qualities as a potential teammate. Most assuringly, Lawson also asserts that he would not be intimidated by coming up against Verstappen week in, week out.

While Tsunoda is also a contender to move up into Red Bull, having been with the team since 2021, it’s understood senior figures within the team are hesitant to promote him.

Tsunoda is linked to Red Bull through engine supplier Honda, who are with Red Bull’s two teams until the end of next season. After that, though, Honda will join Aston Martin.

It’s understood that Red Bull do not want to give Tsunoda a year in their car, only to lose him 12 months later, and see him join a rival. Aston Martin have already landed one blow against Red Bull this year by signing legendary car designer Adrian Newey.

However, while Tsunoda was given a test drive in the Red Bull car after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Herald understands this was solely to appease Honda.

Red Bull academy driver Isack Hadjar looms as the likely candidate to step into Racing Bulls, as and when one of Lawson or Tsunoda is promoted.

Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.