Lawson has a clear goal in mind: 'Then I do it elsewhere'

After substituting in for Daniel Ricciardo during second half of the 2023 season after the Australian was out injured because of a crash at the Dutch Grand Prix. Lawson made a good impression and was hopeful of a seat for 2024, but he remained a reserve driver. For 2025, he does not want to miss out, he told TalkSport.

Liam Lawson is clear about wanting a seat in Formula One for the 2025 season. "I don’t really know where I slot into that [driver market], or if I do at all. It’s something that I’m working towards every day at the moment. If I could choose, I would love to be with Red Bull. But obviously, if there’s no seat there, my goal is F1. So that could be anywhere."

Now that Sergio Perez has received a contract extension, announced by Red Bull ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, and as GPblog previously reported, Max Verstappen will also stay at the Austrian team, there is no place at the parent team for the driver from New Zealand. However, Lawson is still under a Red Bull contract and could be loaned out to VCARB for the upcoming season too, which seems to be his only possible option to get a seat. Daniel Ricciardo will likely remain there thanks to his relationship with Christian Horner, but Yuki Tsunoda is also reportedly looking for different options.

If Lawson's crew is indeed looking towards seats elsewhere, there are plenty of options available, but his name is yet to come up in the rumour mill. Haas, Williams, Alpine and Sauber (soon-to-become Audi) are all open destinations, but he would have to compete for those seats with more experienced drivers such as Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon among others.