Liam Lawson Red Bull clause update amid Daniel Ricciardo exit rumours

Liam Lawson

Red Bull are yet to exercise their option on reserve driver Liam Lawson – but it is hoped a resolution can be found by the summer break, PlanetF1.com understands.

Lawson currently serves as reserve driver for both Red Bull and RB, and is hoping to find a way onto the F1 2025 grid after impressing during a substitute stint for the injured Daniel Ricciardo last season.

Red Bull yet to exercise contract option on Liam Lawson

Lawson himself admitted earlier this month that if a drive within the Red Bull stable is not available next season, he could end up “anywhere” on the grid if a seat becomes available, though Red Bull remains his priority.

With the seat Ricciardo currently occupies at RB now the only one of the four that remains uncontracted at Red Bull beyond the end of this season, Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko explained previously that a clause exists within his contract that if the team does not put Lawson on the grid, he is available for others to sign.

With the ‘senior’ Red Bull seats now occupied by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez next season, the subject resurfaced after Marko hinted that moving Lawson up to an RB seat at Ricciardo’s expense next year may be a logical move.

“The shareholders have made it clear that it is a junior team and we have to act accordingly,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

“The goal was that [Ricciardo] would be considered for Red Bull Racing with exceptional performances. That seat now belongs to Sergio Perez, so that plan is no longer valid.

“We will have to put a young driver in there soon. That would be Liam Lawson.”

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said earlier in the year, meanwhile, that Ricciardo’s future remains in his own destiny – with the Australian having since said he wants to remain with RB in 2025 if he can.

Horner has referenced Lawson as a reminder of who Red Bull have in reserve, but said his “priority” is upon those who currently occupy the race cockpits.

Qualifying his comments by saying it was still early in the season at the time, Horner told media of Ricciardo’s future in China back in April: “Well, I think that it’s pretty much in Daniel’s hands. He needs to show the kind of head-turning form to make not only ourselves but potentially to make others take notice.

“Now, obviously, waiting in the wings is a driver with the talent of Liam Lawson, who naturally is champing at the bit to get an opportunity.

“But there’s nothing pre-set or preordained as to when or even if that would take place. The priority is for sure for the drivers that are in the race seats at the moment and we’ll see how that pans out.”