The six race weekends that Liam Lawson will compete in, starting from the United States Grand Prix, will serve as an on-track exam. Red Bull’s strategy is clear: if the New Zealander meets the expectations of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, in 2025 the doors to Red Bull will open wide for him.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Lawson is well aware of it. However, it won’t be an easy path. Liam will be thrown into the arena in Austin, with just one free practice session to get minimally acquainted with the Racing Bull car before heading straight into qualifying. His evaluation will be heavily influenced by the direct comparison with Yuki Tsunoda.
After four years of stability provided by the Verstappen-Perez duo, Red Bull is returning to its youth program. The process that had, over the years, brought young drivers from the junior team (Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, and Max Verstappen) into the main team had stalled when Marko deemed the promotions of Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon to the senior team unsuccessful. This led to the arrival of Perez, a driver outside the Red Bull ecosystem but with considerable experience.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s junior team radar has missed several targets, from Oliver Bearman to Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Kimi Antonelli. The team, once able to bring many young talents to the forefront, has been caught off guard by the growing competition from Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren on the junior team front, with Alpine and Williams also joining the race.
The ‘Lawson operation’ marks a return to the old ways, a near-obligatory move given the very positive feedback from the recent debuts of Oscar Piastri, Oliver Bearman, and the latest arrival, Colapinto. If Liam Lawson passes the test he will face, in 2025 the Red Bull duo will be Verstappen-Lawson, while rumors suggest that the potential teammate for Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls could be Frenchman Isack Hadjar, currently second in the Formula 2 championship.
In this scenario, it’s difficult to understand the strategy behind Yuki Tsunoda. Next season will be the Japanese driver’s fifth in Formula 1. While he has shown gradual (though slow) improvement year after year, Christian Horner and Marko don’t currently seem to consider him a potential teammate for Verstappen.
Yuki Tsunoda entered the Red Bull world at the end of 2018 at the request of Honda, who at that time was a strong partner in the Formula 1 project. So far, he has always been guaranteed a seat, but from 2026, Honda will partner with Aston Martin, leaving Yuki Tsunoda’s future uncertain.
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