Lawson emerged as the preferred candidate to be promoted among Red Bull’s shareholders, senior team principal Christian Horner and team adviser Dr Helmut Marko. The Herald understands the major stumbling block to Lawson’s confirmation was whether Perez was to be sacked, or remain with the team in an ambassadorial role.
“To be announced as an Oracle Red Bull Racing Driver is a lifelong dream for me, this is something I’ve wanted and worked towards since I was eight years old,” said Lawson.
“It’s been an incredible journey so far. I want to say a massive thank you to the whole team at [Racing Bulls] for their support, the last six races have played a huge part in my preparation for this next step.
“I also want to thank, Christian, Helmut and the whole Red Bull family for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. I am super excited to work alongside Max and learn from a world champion, I have no doubt I will learn from his expertise.
“I can’t wait to get going.”
Liam Lawson with Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images
The move will see Lawson move up into Red Bull’s senior ranks with just 11 races of experience, five in 2023 and six this year. Lawson is the first driver to be promoted from Red Bull’s junior to senior team since 2019, when Alex Albon moved up from what was then Toro Rosso.
And while there may be criticism from outside their ranks, Red Bull are confident in Lawson’s ability to adapt to the demands of driving for their senior team, despite his inexperience. The Herald understands Lawson’s promotion was centred around more than results – having scored just four points from his six races this year.
Instead, Lawson’s record in aiding with development during his years as a reserve driver were taken into account, as well as Red Bull’s internal evaluations holding him in better stead compared to Verstappen than his predecessors.
And given the uncertainty around Verstappen’s future in the sport, with no guarantee of continuing in Formula One past the expiry of his 2028 contract, Red Bull is understood to be eager to give Lawson time in the senior team to prepare him if that eventuates.
The 22-year-old New Zealander had been in contention with teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the seat, and won out over his more experienced teammate. Despite having completed 87 Grands Prix to Lawson’s 11, the Herald understands Red Bull were reluctant to put him into their senior team for a number of reasons.
The 24-year-old Japanese driver is largely with Red Bull due to the commercial benefit to engine supplier Honda. However, Honda will leave Red Bull in 2026 to join Aston Martin, and it is widely expected Tsunoda will follow.
Tensions between the two teams are already high, given Aston Martin lured designer Adrian Newey from Red Bull. It is understood Red Bull do not want to give Tsunoda a year in their top team, only to see him leave 12 months later, and take their intellectual property to a rival.
Performance-wise, it is also understood that while Tsunoda produced better head-to-head results than Lawson over this season’s six-race stint, that gap was not convincing enough, given he has four years of experience compared with the Kiwi’s 11 races.
Tsunoda undertook a test drive with Red Bull at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit last week but this is understood to have played no part in the team’s decision and was only a move to appease Honda.
Similarly, Williams reserve driver Franco Colapinto was put forward as a contender, after impressive points finishes at Austin and Baku.
However, the Argentinian crashed his car in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. On top of that, it has been reported Red Bull would have needed to pay out another eight-figure sum to buy Colapinto out of his contract, on top of the fee paid to Perez.
Lawson’s promotion sees Formula Two 2024 runner-up Isack Hadjar move up into Racing Bulls to partner Tsunoda for the 2025 season. Like Tsunoda, Hadjar also test drove for Red Bull at Abu Dhabi.
Perez, 34, had only re-signed with Red Bull in June on a one-plus-one contract, where the 2025 season was guaranteed with a further option for the team in 2026.
However, after that, the Mexican driver’s form dramatically nosedived.
While Verstappen claimed a fourth successive drivers championship, Perez finished eighth, which saw Red Bull lose the constructors’ championship, and settle for third behind McLaren and Ferrari.
Across the season’s 24 races, Verstappen won nine for 437 points. In the same car, Perez did not record a single victory, finishing with 152 points.
That 285-point gap was not only the largest gulf between any two teammates this season, but larger than the combined difference of all other drivers across the nine other teams on the 2024 grid.
Perez’s drop in form can be held up as the sole reason Red Bull went from leading the constructors’ championship to third, resulting in an eight-figure loss in prizemoney.
And while Perez did bring in large revenue through sponsorship from his native Mexico, the Herald understands this no longer offset what Red Bull lost by falling down the championship.
Regardless, Lawson has still been backed by many names in and outside of Red Bull’s ranks.
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.
