07/08/2025 20:00
Liam Lawson insists he is not thinking about returning to Red Bull
at the moment, despite the uptick in his recent performance. The
New Zealander heads into the F1 summer break in strong form after
scoring points in three of the past four rounds. Beginning the year
alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, the 23-year-old endured a
torrid start and was promptly demoted back to its second team after
just two rounds, with Yuki Tsunoda parachuted in to replace him.
Since then, it has taken Lawson time to become reacclimatised with
his surroundings at the Faenza-based squad and reaccustomed to its
car. Initially overshadowed by rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar,
Lawson is starting to replicate the form that saw him chosen over
Tsunoda in the first place. The 14 points he has scored since,
including his career-best finish of sixth place in the Austrian
Grand Prix, have allowed Lawson to pull to within two points of
Hadjar, who has not finished in the top 10 of a grand prix since
the annual trip to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at the start
of June. Unsurprisingly, with Tsunoda out of contract at the end of
the year - along with both Racing Bulls drivers - questions are
starting to be asked about how Red Bull's driver line-up could look
in 2026. New team principal Laurent Mekies has worked closely with
all three potential Verstappen team-mates, but Lawson's purple
patch of form has triggered suggestions he could be the one to join
the Dutchman for the start of F1's new regulations cycle.
"Honestly, in terms of my future, it's been so busy this year that
I'm not really thinking about it," he told the media, including
RacingNews365 , when the possibility of a Milton Keynes return was
put to him. "I'm focused on having some good races." Lawson is
adamant that a few strong performances are not enough to vault him
back into the seat he lost at the start of the campaign, which is
why his focus is on replicating those results more consistently.
"Obviously, we've had some recently, but three of them isn't enough
over 12 races, or however many it's been, so we need to do more of
this, and then we'll see," he added.
