Red Bull has confirmed it will finally lay to rest speculation surrounding the future of Liam Lawson in September. Lawson burst onto the scene almost a year ago when deputising for Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri after the Australian suffered multiple breaks of a bone in his left hand following a crash in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix. The composure shown by the New Zealander in testing conditions in Zandvoort was followed up by a run of fine performances for a further four races as Ricciardo recovered. The 22-year-old delivered a standout drive in the Singapore Grand Prix when he finished ninth. At that stage, 15 grands prix into the season, it was the highest race finish by an AlphaTauri driver Lawson's cameo earmarked him as a driver with a future in F1. Despite advisor Helmut Marko indicating at the time there was the possibility of him racing in F1 this season, AlphaTauri opted to retain Ricciardo and team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. Continuing in his role as test and reserve driver this term, Lawson has had to bide his time, particularly with his name constantly being touted with both a seat at RB - formerly AlphaTauri - and even as a replacement for Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
Hadjar to replace Lawson?
It now appears as if the waiting is about to be over. Writing in his latest column for Austrian publication Speedweek , Marko said: "We will announce what happens next with Liam Lawson in September." Marko, though, has ruled out one possibility, adding: "Even though the competition would like to use him on loan, he is not available for that." Another Red Bull junior driver in the spotlight is Isack Hadjar, who currently leads this year's F2 championship with four rounds to run. Indicating that Lawson is set to definitely move on from his test and reserve role, Marko said: "Our Formula 2 driver Isack Hadjar took his fourth victory in the highest Formula racing class in Spa [the feature race win over the Belgian GP weekend]. "He clearly has the potential for Formula 1. We'll see how things develop, but he will certainly take on some role. It could be that he will spend a year as a test and simulator driver, like Lawson."
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