Following Red Bull’s decision to re-sign Sergio Perez, Lawson is left competing with Daniel Ricciardo for the second seat at sister team Racing Bulls.
The make-up of the Racing Bulls lineup has come under scrutiny, given its intention of being a junior side for Red Bull to develop drivers to promote into its senior setup.
At present, its two seats are filled by 35-year-old Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, whose place in the team is linked to engine supplier Honda, although that deal ends at the end of next season.
As initially reported by the Herald, Lawson’s current contract with Red Bull contains a clause that he is free to leave, should he not be guaranteed a place on the 2025 grid by a certain date.
Writing for German outlet SpeedWeek, Dr Helmut Marko has now confirmed September as the deadline for Red Bull to make its decision, with the organisation seeming to be committed to the Kiwi.
“We will announce what happens next with Liam Lawson in September,” Marko wrote.
“It has been planned for some time that he would be able to gain more Formula One experience in Imola.
“Even though the competition would like to use him on loan, he is not available for that.”
Lawson has reportedly caught the eye of Audi-backed Sauber, who also have a seat free for 2025, but cannot move to sign the Kiwi until his Red Bull future is resolved.
However, Lawson’s management has told the Herald the Kiwi is committed to Red Bull, and repaying the faith that has been shown in him since he was a teenager.
As a Red Bull senior advisor, Marko oversees the development programme across the organisation.
Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez. Photo / Getty Images
The 81-year-old has been a vocal supporter of Lawson, and has twice backed him publicly to step into Formula One fulltime, after an impressive five-race stint last year when Ricciardo suffered a broken hand at the Dutch Grand Prix.
However, Red Bull had already moved to sign both Ricciardo and Tsunoda for 2024, and left Lawson sidelined as reserve driver for both of its two teams.
Since then, though, speculation has been when and not if Lawson would get the chance in Formula One fulltime, as neither Ricciardo nor Tsunoda appear to be long-term options.
Ricciardo, however, is heavily backed by Red Bull senior team principal, Christian Horner, due to his commercial value.
Recent speculation also linked Lawson with the Red Bull senior team, due to Perez’s struggles in partnering reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
Since penning a new contract this year, Perez has returned only 28 points from his past eight races.
It was heavily stipulated that Perez’s contract contained a clause that could see Red Bull terminate his deal, if he trailed Verstappen by more than 100 points at the mid-season break.
With that point now here, the deficit between the two is 146 points in Verstappen’s favour - the largest between any two teammates on the grid this year.
However, despite critical comments from Marko after the Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull have opted to retain Perez for after the summer break.
It had been reported Perez was saved due to his commercial value in Mexico, being the only Mexican driver on the grid, with Liberty Media - Formula One’s owner - stepping in to protect their financial interests in Latin America.
Marko, though, refuted those claims, and moved to support Perez before the season resumes in the Netherlands.
“Perez doesn’t need to get faster, just more consistent. And given the alternatives, he is still our best solution.
“Reports that his continued commitment is due to Liberty Media’s desire for him to race in Mexico are not true.
“They certainly want him to race in his home race, but our choice of driver is not based on Liberty Media’s intentions.”
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.
