Liam Lawson handed double-down verdict in F1 future fight: 'It makes no sense'

Karun Chandhok has doubled down on his assessment that Racing Bulls would be making a mistake by replacing Liam Lawson with Nikola Tsolov for the 2027 season.

The Sky Sports F1 pundit first raised the issue last week and has now reiterated his position, insisting there is no statistical or performance-based justification for such a switch.

Outside the main four teams, Lawson has been F1's standout performer, sitting comfortably in ninth in the drivers' standings, and the mainstay behind his team now on the brink of securing its highest finish in the constructors' championship: fifth.

Whilst Tsolov finished runner-up in F3 last year and is second in the F2 standings with two rounds remaining, Chandhok feels there is no evidence to support dropping New Zealander Lawson in favour of an unproven rookie.

"I don't see how there's any data or information inside, outside, upside down, in between that suggests that Nikola Tsolov is faster, or a better option, than Liam Lawson today, objectively, I just don't understand that," said Chandhok, in the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

"On Friday, I said it would be one of the most unjust sackings in F1 if Liam Lawson lost his seat, and I stand by that.

"Because I think what we have to remember is Toro Rosso, back in the day, was started as a team to bring through young drivers into the top team.

"Sebastian Vettel was the first big export and successful export, and then we had [Max] Verstappen, [Carlos] Sainz etc, but they're in a completely different place.

"I remember being a Red Bull junior back then, and all of us banging on Helmut [Marko]'s door, saying, 'Please, please, please, give me a go'. They're not that team from 20 years ago.

"They've got Max Verstappen as their established number one, who's going to be there for some time longer, so they're not looking to turn over two seats all the time. They're looking to replace one driver now alongside Max."

Chandhok - 'There's no clear benchmark'

Chandhok also warned that axing Lawson would leave Racing Bulls without any experienced reference point for its younger drivers, even if Red Bull has decided Lawson will never return to the senior team.

"Even if you never promote Liam back up [to Red Bull], even if you say, 'Liam had a chance, he blew it. He's not going to go back in the top team. Therefore, that's why we're swapping him', I would still rather have Liam as the reference for any other young juniors coming through," said Chandhok.

"Because if you've got [Arvid] Lindblad in his second season, and Tsolov as the rookie, there's no clear benchmark. There's no clear reference of, 'We don't know how much Lindblad has improved into season two'.

"He could have made a step as big as Kimi Antonelli. He could not. Why have that level of question mark over the performance of the overall team? To me, it just makes no sense.

"I would have Tsolov do a whole bunch of testing and TPC programmes. Clearly, he's a good driver. He's done a great job in F2, but to me, I would just keep the team the same.

"Also now, they're no longer a back-of-the-grid team. They're top of the midfield. That team, there's a lot of commercial money there. There's a lot of prize money there, and to me, I just don't understand why you would change that."