Liam Lawson's Uncertain Future in Formula 1: A Midfield Leader's Challenge
Liam Lawson keeps delivering. The contract doesn’t.
With three races left in the 2026 Formula 1 season, the 24‑year‑old New Zealander is ninth in the drivers’ standings on 83 points, leading the pack of midfielders and dragging Racing Bulls to the front of the chasing group. Yet he still has no guarantee he’ll be on the grid in 2027.
“I don’t know what else they want me to do,” Lawson said before this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. It didn’t sound like a throwaway line. It sounded like a driver who has ticked every box and is still waiting for someone to sign the form.
Midfield leader, uncertain future
On paper, Lawson’s season is exactly what a junior outfit like Racing Bulls is supposed to crave. He sits best of the rest behind the four dominant teams, anchoring a campaign that has the Faenza squad fifth in the constructors’ championship, almost 40 points clear of Alpine in sixth.
“We’ve had a really strong year, and we’re in a good position,” he said. The numbers back him up. The performances do too.
Mexico told the story. Starting from the pit lane, Lawson sliced through the field to finish ninth on track, then climbed to seventh after post‑race penalties reshuffled the order. It was the kind of gritty, opportunistic drive that usually cements futures, not clouds them.
Yet Racing Bulls, owned by Red Bull, has still not announced its 2027 lineup. Every week that passes tightens the noose on Lawson’s options.
“It’s the end of the season. When something like this is pushed all the way to the end, you’re left with not really any options, so it’s not the easiest situation,” he admitted. There is no safety net. “I don’t have a plan B.”
Red Bull’s conveyor belt keeps turning
The complication sits higher up the food chain. Red Bull’s driver programme never stops moving, and this time the spotlight has swung towards Bulgarian F2 driver Nikola Tsolov.
Tsolov drove Lawson’s car in first practice in Mexico, a clear sign of where the energy is flowing inside the organisation. Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer didn’t hide his admiration.
He said Lawson had “done everything” required to prove himself within the team, but then came the reminder of how this system works: “it’s our job to continually bring new drivers into the series”. In other words, doing everything might still not be enough when the next prospect is already knocking on the door.
Bayer praised Tsolov for how quickly he slotted into the environment, saying the youngster “integrated perfectly into the team”. It was the sort of line that lands heavily when you’re the one still waiting for a contract.
The final call, Bayer stressed, will rest with team principal Alan Permane. “He’ll make the right choice for the team.” The subtext is brutal but familiar in Formula 1: sentiment doesn’t sign contracts, performance and potential do. Lawson has delivered the former. Red Bull believes it may have found more of the latter.
Stronger on track, stronger in resolve
What makes Lawson’s situation even more stark is how far he has come since his brief, bruising stint at Red Bull in 2025, when he was demoted after just two races.
He insists that chapter has fuelled him rather than broken him. “My racing has been a lot stronger than in 2025,” he said, a quiet statement of fact rather than self‑promotion. The consistency, the racecraft, the points haul – they all point in the same direction.
Lawson has tried to keep his head out of the contract noise while the season has unfolded. “I’ve been trying to do my best,” he said. So far, his best has put him at the top of the midfield and turned Racing Bulls into a clear benchmark for teams outside the top four.
Yet the longer the team waits, the more his fate feels detached from his lap times.
Brazil’s chaos, Lawson’s clarity
Now comes Interlagos, a circuit that rarely does dull and almost never does predictable. The weather can flip a race on its head in a lap. It’s the sort of weekend where drivers earn reputations.
Lawson sounds ready for the chaos.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I feel like the speed’s been good, and in Mexico it was very, very good. It’ll be a tough race, but I’m sure we’ll get some mixed conditions this weekend, and I’m sure it’s going to be challenging for us.”
A swirling, wet‑dry Brazilian Grand Prix is exactly the kind of stage where a driver fighting for his future can turn a strong season into an undeniable one. Lawson has already made his case on track. Interlagos offers him another chance to make it impossible to ignore.
The question now is simple: when the chequered flag falls on this season, will Racing Bulls reward the driver who has kept them ahead of the pack, or hand his seat to the next name on Red Bull’s conveyor belt?
