Red Bull chooses Liam Lawson for 2025

The day after the official ousting of Sergio Pérez, Red Bull made official on Thursday the identity of his replacement for next season. Because once the decision was made to oust the 2023 world vice-champion, the Austrian team had to resolve an equally thorny question, namely that of its succession.

If certain rumors have sometimes mentioned an external solution, as was the case during the recruitment of Sergio Pérez four years ago, the tracks leading to Carlos Sainz or Franco Colapinto have not gone beyond this stage. Once resolutely decided to draw from their own pool, the leaders had to arbitrate between Yuki Tsunoda et Liam Lawson.

Despite the four seasons spent by the Japanese in the sister team AlphaTauri/VCARB, and despite also the unwavering support from Honda until the end to try to influence the decision, it was the New Zealander who convinced the Red Bull staff. With only 11 Grands Prix to his name, Liam Lawson will have the difficult task of joining a top team and teaming up with Max Verstappen from 2025.

“Liam’s performances during his two stints with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls have demonstrated that he is not only capable of achieving results but that he is also a true competitor, who is not afraid to come out and challenge. to the best”underlines Christian Horner, director of Red Bull. “His arrival continues the team’s long history of promotion within Red Bull’s junior program, and he follows in the footsteps of drivers who have won races and titles like Sebastian Vettel and, of course, Max Verstappen.”

“There is no doubt that racing alongside Max, a four-time world champion and undoubtedly one of the greatest drivers F1 has ever seen, is a daunting task, but I am certain that Liam can rise to the challenge and clinch exceptional results for us next year.”

Joker Daniel Ricciardo when he was injured in the summer of 2023, Liam Lawson made a good impression for his debut in Formula 1. Then he had to chomp on the brakes, until the Australian was definitively sidelined last September and that he finishes the season in his place at VCARB. In six Grands Prix, he entered the points twice but did not beat Yuki Tsunoda in the qualifying round only twice (each time in sprint format).

Evoking the “dream of a lifetime” for which he has “worked since the age of 8”Liam Lawson is obviously impatient to begin this new chapter in his young career. “I have had an incredible adventure so far and I would like to warmly thank the entire VCARB team for their support”he insists. “The last six Grands Prix have played an important role in my preparation for this new stage.”

The freshness of Liam Lawson seems to have convinced Red Bull, which has also often shown reluctance regarding the character of Yuki Tsunoda. The solution of immediately promoting the younger of the two for 2025 also offers the possibility of reversing the two seats and calling the Japanese to the rescue if things do not go as planned, which has already happened. seen in 2019.

In the meantime, the Honda protégé will begin a fifth season with Racing Bulls, a continuous longevity never seen before since the Faenza team came under Red Bull in 2006. There is therefore one seat still to be filled, for for which the French driver Isack Hadjar is more than ever the favorite today.