Liam Lawson makes Red Bull admission with F1 future uncertain

Liam Lawson is battling to remain on the F1 grid for the 2026 season.

The 23-year-old Kiwi is out of contract at the end of a rollercoaster 2025 that began with a short-lived stint at Red Bull and is concluding with a revival at sister team Racing Bulls.

Lawson has not yet secured a deal for next year but his performances for Racing Bulls following his savage Red Bull demotion after two disastrous races are strengthening his case to retain his place.

Cast aside by Red Bull having struggled alongside Max Verstappen, Lawson has shown resilience and quietly rebuilt his season at sister squad Racing Bulls.

Lawson scored his best result of the season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with an outstanding drive to fifth, having held off a train of cars including Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda. That came after an excellent qualifying lap saw him secure a surprise P3 on the grid.

With current teammate Isack Hadjar tipped to be promoted to Red Bull for 2026, and Arvid Lindblad rumoured to be heading for F1 with Racing Bulls, it appears that Lawson is in a direct shootout with Tsunoda for the other seat.

Lawson has indicated that his dream is no longer to secure a return to Red Bull. After all, the previous drivers spat out by Red Bull have never returned to the senior team.

“I spent a long time, especially joining [Red Bull] as a junior at 17, just looking at how to get to Red Bull Racing – that was where I saw my future,” he said in Thursday's press conference in Azerbaijan.

“Maybe… Not that I forgot why I do it, but that was so much of the goal. It’s easier now to sit back and realise the goal has always been winning and getting to the top, and it doesn’t need to be specific to where that is.”

Lawson facing career crossroads

Outside of Red Bull’s four-backed cars, the only available drive left for 2026 comes at Alpine.

But with Alpine set to decide between Franco Colapinto or reserve driver Paul Aron for next season, Lawson’s best hope of remaining on the F1 grid appears to be with Racing Bulls.

Lawson acknowledged his short-term options are limited as he looks to secure his F1 future.

“Hopefully in the next few races. It’s obviously hard to know,” Lawson said of his future.

“As drivers, the main thing for us is to be in Formula 1, so we’re focused on securing a seat. Honestly, that’s my goal at the moment.

“In terms of other teams, I think pretty much everyone is either locked in or has a pretty good idea of what they’re doing next year anyway. Right now, it’s mostly talks with Red Bull and trying to secure a seat where I am at the moment.

“Beyond that, I think it’s at a point where most of them [other seats] are pretty much gone, I would say.”