Liam Lawson's Uncertain Future in Formula 1: A Midfield Star's Dilemma
Liam Lawson is running out of ways to make his case. On track, at least.
Ninth in the Formula 1 drivers’ standings, 83 points on the board, leading the charge for the midfield and dragging Racing Bulls to the front of the chasing pack – it reads like the résumé of a driver with his future secure. Instead, the 24-year-old Kiwi heads into the Brazilian Grand Prix still unsure if he’ll even be on the grid in 2027.
“I don’t know what else they want me to do,” he said this week, and it didn’t sound like a throwaway line. It sounded like a driver who has ticked every box the sport keeps putting in front of him, only to find someone quietly moving the goalposts.
A season that should have settled the argument
Lawson’s year has been the kind that usually locks in a contract, not puts one at risk.
He sits ninth in the championship, best of the rest outside the established top four teams. Race after race, he has been the reference point for the midfield, the driver turning Racing Bulls from also-rans into a genuine nuisance for bigger operations.
The numbers back it up. Racing Bulls are fifth in the constructors’ standings, almost 40 points clear of Alpine. That gap is not an accident. Lawson has been central to it.
Mexico told the story neatly. Starting from the pit lane, he worked his way through the field to finish ninth on track, then inherited seventh after post-race penalties. It was the kind of gritty, opportunistic drive teams usually hold up in presentations to sponsors as proof of their project’s momentum.
“We’ve had a really strong year, and we’re in a good position,” Lawson said ahead of São Paulo. “I’ve been trying to do my best.” On Sundays, it shows.
No plan B, no guarantees
Off the track, the picture is far murkier.
Despite his form, Racing Bulls still have not confirmed their driver lineup for 2027. For Lawson, that means no signed deal, no assurances, and, by his own admission, no safety net.
He called his contract limbo “one of those things at the moment” and accepted the brutal reality of timing in F1. “It’s the end of the season. When something like this is pushed all the way to the end, you’re left with not really any options, so it’s not the easiest situation.”
There is no alternative series lined up, no obvious escape route. If Racing Bulls cut him, he is exposed.
He insists he has not spent the year obsessing over his future, instead focusing on the driving. It shows in the way he compares himself to the version of Liam Lawson that Red Bull demoted after just two races back in 2025.
His assessment of 2026 is blunt: his racing has been “a lot stronger” than it was then. The paddock eye test would agree.
The shadow of Red Bull and the lure of the new
The complication sits above him, in the Red Bull structure that owns Racing Bulls and rarely stands still.
The energy drink giant is looking hard at Bulgarian F2 driver Nikola Tsolov, the latest name on their conveyor belt. Tsolov stepped into Lawson’s car for first practice in Mexico, a clear signal that this is not a theoretical option but an active consideration.
Inside Racing Bulls, CEO Peter Bayer has been careful with his words, but the message is unmistakable. He acknowledged Lawson has “done everything” required to prove himself within the team, then immediately framed the wider responsibility.
“It’s our job to continually bring new drivers into the series,” Bayer said. That is the Red Bull model: identify, promote, replace. No room for sentiment, even when the incumbent is delivering.
Bayer praised Tsolov for how he “integrated perfectly into the team” in Mexico. For Lawson, that kind of public approval for a potential rival is another reminder that performance alone may not shield him.
Ultimately, Bayer says, the decision will fall to team principal Alan Permane. “He’ll make the right choice for the team.” The definition of “right” may not be the one Lawson is hoping for.
Interlagos, mixed skies, and a driver still swinging
So Lawson arrives at Interlagos in a curious place: thriving on track, vulnerable off it.
Brazil rarely offers a quiet weekend. The circuit at São Paulo is tight, technical, and unforgiving, and the weather has a habit of turning routine races into chaos. For a driver in need of another statement, that might be no bad thing.
Heading into the Brazilian GP, Lawson sounded more like a racer than a contract case study. “I feel like the speed’s been good, and in Mexico it was very, very good,” he said. He expects a “tough race” and is almost relishing the prospect of “mixed conditions” and a “challenging” weekend.
He has spent the year turning difficult situations into points. Now he faces the most delicate one of all: proving, yet again, that he belongs in Formula 1 while the people holding his fate weigh up the next new thing.
He has already asked the question that hangs over his season: what more can he do?
Brazil may not give him the answer. But it might make it a lot harder for Racing Bulls – and Red Bull – to ignore.
