Liam Lawson reveals Red Bull issue with F1 future in limbo

Liam Lawson has revealed he is “on hold” within the Red Bull set-up as he waits to hear confirmation over his 2026 plans.

Lawson started the current season at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen but was demoted back to the sister team after a challenging opening two rounds.

While the New Zealander has produced some impressive performances since his demotion, rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar is being linked with the second Red Bull seat for next year.

Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad is in contention for a promotion to Racing Bulls in 2026, while the energy drink squad is also in talks to sign highly rated F2 rookie Alex Dunne to its junior programme following his exit from McLaren.

When asked when he’d like to know his racing plans for 2026, Lawson told media including RacingNews365: “I’d love to know tomorrow, honestly.

“But obviously, in this camp, it's very normal to be left on hold a little bit.

“That’s how it is at the moment. I know the only thing that has control over that is my performance in the car.

“So until I have that answer, that's just what I'm focused on.”

For the remainder of the campaign, Lawson will be racing at tracks he has experience at in F1, having replaced Daniel Ricciardo following last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

Lawson is hopeful he can use the added knowledge as a boost as he seeks to convince Red Bull of his place in F1.

“There are some very exciting, unique, cool races coming up as well,” he said. 

“For me as well, having done a full cycle of tracks, going to tracks that I've done before, it's exciting.

“It's the part I enjoy most out of the season. So I would say I'm more focused on that than anything [else].”