Lawson fires Red Bull warning over 2025 F1 seat

Liam Lawson has hinted that he could look to move away from Red Bull if he does not secure a full-time race seat in 2025.

Kiwi Lawson was overlooked for an RB seat this season despite an impressive five-race stint between the Netherlands and Qatar in 2023 as a stand-in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, scoring two points in Singapore.

However, the management of the then-AlphaTauri team opted for a line-up of Yuki Tsunoda and Ricciardo for 2024, meaning Lawson would spend another year on the sidelines, despite earning positive feedback on his five races, with Helmut Marko indicating that Lawson would receive his chance for '25.

A poor start to the new season from Ricciardo has lead to speculation in the New Zealand press that he could be removed from the seat in favour of Lawson, and speaking before the Australian Grand Prix, Lawson was firm in his desire to be on the F1 grid in 2025, either in a Red Bull-backed seat or not.

Lawson on F1 future

"Obviously for me, the dream is to drive with Red Bull, and I've been with them now for more than five years," Lawson told Fox Sports Australia.

"They're the most competitive team in Formula 1 right now, so if I could choose, I would drive for them.

"But my dream is to be in Formula 1, and if it can't be with them, then obviously, I need to try and make that happen with somebody else."

Lawson also touched on his debut at Zandvoort, describing how he immediately knew it was an "audition."

"I definitely knew it was an audition," he said.

"Especially as a junior driver, we're judged on what we do in our junior championships alongside Formula 1 - Formula 2 and Super Formula.

"But at the end of the day, these teams only care about what we're doing to do in a Formula 1 car, and I knew we'd be judged on those races and at the time, it was race-by-race."

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