Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Dr Helmut Marko has insisted Liam Lawson will be racing in Formula 1 as a full-time driver during the 2025 season. Lawson was called upon to stand in for Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri after the Australian suffered a hand injury during free practice at the Dutch Grand Prix. The New Zealander has impressed in the races since with his performances and managed to secure his first career points in Singapore but despite his strong run of form, the 21-year-old was not handed a full-time seat for next year’s campaign, with Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda continuing with AlphaTauri. Red Bull Team Principal recently warned Lawson there were 'no guarantees' over his future but speaking to Kleine Zeitung, Marko explained: “He is a tough racer and one of the strongest drivers ever in a duel. “With the role as reserve driver, he has a big task next year but by 2025 at the latest, he will be in a Formula 1 car anyway.”
‘Potential to be a race winner’
The junior driver programme set up by Red Bull has become known as one of the most ruthless but successful schemes in motorsport - it has sent drivers such who proved themselves to be race-winners, such as Sebastian Vettel and Ricciardo, to F1 but has also seen a number fall short. "Lawson certainly has the potential to be a GP winner, as he has mastered all the tasks so far and in the most difficult conditions,” said Marko. “He was literally thrown into the cold rain [at his Zandvoort debut].”
Most read
