Marko confirms: 'Lawson gets a seat in 2025'
F1 News
- Jeroen Immink
It seems to be finally happening: Liam Lawson will get a permanent seat in Formula 1. Dr Helmut Marko confirmed this to Kleine Zeitung. The only question is which team the New Zealander will go to - Red Bull or VCARB? Marko has since hinted that a decision will be made in September.
Lawson's decision to be made in September
After his spectacular debut for Alphatauri in 2023, it was not a question of if, but when Red Bull would give Lawson the chance. The Austrian team initially opted to let Daniel Ricciardo drive alongside Yuki Tsunoda for Alphatauri, which has since been renamed VCARB. But with Ricciardo and Sergio Perez getting mixed results in 2024, the doors seem to have opened for Lawson.
The only question is which car Lawson will be put in. Will he follow the same path as Max Verstappen - who made his debut at sister team Toro Rosso and was then promoted to Red Bull - or will he be prepared to go to Red Bull's top team in one go? "Next year he will take a seat in one of our cars," said Marko, who did not want to confirm which car. "A decision will be made in September," the Austrian added.
Last season, Lawson made his debut for Alphatauri at the Dutch Grand Prix after Ricciardo, who in turn had replaced Nyck de Vries, broke his hand. The 22-year-old Lawson immediately impressed by finishing ahead of Tsunoda. At the Singapore Grand Prix, he even managed to qualify better than Max Verstappen and scored his first points with P9.
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton