It was an incredibly close call, but Liam Lawson has been given the nod by F1 fans to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull next year after edging out Franco Colapinto. With Sergio Perez's place with the team heavily under threat following a wretched campaign since an early-season burst of form that ended with a fourth place in Miami, Lawson, Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda are the primary options as replacement. Lawson has shot to prominence since his five-race cameo role with AlphaTauri last season when he deputised for an injured Daniel Ricciardo. The New Zealander had to wait patiently on the sidelines to return to F1, doing so after RB decided to terminate Ricciardo's deal with the team after the Singapore Grand Prix. Colapinto, meanwhile, has captured the imagination after being parachuted in by Williams to replace the axed Logan Sargeant after the Dutch GP, scoring points in two races so far. It has resulted in Colapinto becoming a hero in his country of Argentina, and linked with a move to Red Bull, although it has been suggested that Williams is demanding £20 million in compensation for a driver it does not have a seat for next year after signing Carlos Sainz to partner Alex Albon. In the latest RacingNews365 poll, we asked whether Red Bull should sign Colapinto to partner Verstappen. Almost a third of voters - 32.53% to be precise - agreed, which ordinarily would be enough to clinch victory in a multi-choice poll. However, Lawson ended up being given the nod after collecting 38.33% of votes. Just 13 per cent said Tsunoda should be promoted, whilst only 5.5% felt Perez should keep his seat. One fan, SpeedyFreaky, explained why they opted for Lawson. They wrote: "Colapinto is clearly a very promising talent but the key word is 'promising'. "He was penalised for causing a collision with Lawson in Mexico and binned it big time in Brazil...the idea he could go straight to Red Bull, over the very level head of Lawson, is just ridiculous." Another fan, lorenzo-alfaro, suggested Lawson should be promoted, and Colapinto signed to RB, but with a word of warning for the former. "I think, given some time, Colapinto is going to show he's better than Lawson. Mark my words."
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