Horner’s clarification on the future of Liam Lawson

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner reckons Helmut Marko’s claim that Liam Lawson will ‘definitely be in one of our cars next year’ was premature.

Horner says that a decision has yet to be made, and there are no guarantees that the Kiwi will drive a Red Bull or RB car next year.

When getting to specifics it seems Marko’s comments meant he will “have a drive in Formula 1 next season”. 

When Horner was asked whether Lawson could instead drive elsewhere, with Sauber for example, he responded “Nothing is fixed”. He added “If we don’t take up the option on Liam, then he’s a free driver for 2025.”

Horner clarified that he checked with Marko regarding his earlier comments on a Lawson drive and he (Marko) replied that he didn’t say which car; he just said that he would get an F1 drive. 

Daniel Ricciardo is the only Red Bull or RB driver yet to have a contract signed for 2025. He could replace a struggling Sergio Perez should he fail to fire over the remaining races this season.

Lawson has also been linked to Red Bull’s senior team should Perez continue his poor run of form but Horner is confident the Mexican will improve in the latter part of 2024.

“It is about performance,” he said. “For us, we’ve got the two drivers that we believe, in our pool of drivers, are the most capable of giving us the best results.

“If there was a doubt in that, then we would have changed it.”