Red Bull junior Liam Lawson has been patiently waiting for an F1 seat on the sidelines and was hoping for a full-time opportunity with the Milton-Keynes-based team to its sister outfit V-CARB for 2025. However, the chances of that happening seem slim now and the Austrian stable is in danger of losing Lawson to another team.
As per Formu1a.uno, Audi is considering having Lawson onboard. The Germans will enter F1 by acquiring Sauber, a team that is currently a backmarker. But with investment, they plan on making the Hinwil-based team one of the best on the grid. Hiring Lawson, one of F1’s most talented youngsters will be a statement to the rest of the teams that they mean business.
Lawson moving to Audi could simply be out of pure frustration. He filled in for Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri (now V-CARB) in 2023 for five races and did a commendable job; something he feels should have landed him an F1 seat. However, Red Bull decided to go with the lineup of Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.
| Liam Lawson is emerging as an “outside contender” to join Audi.
However, the market is very volatile, so there are many different scenarios.
Red Bull are also still evaluating Lawson.
— formularacers (@formularacers_) June 24, 2024
Per reports, they promised Lawson a drive for 2025 if he remained with them as a reserve for another season. However, Red Bull’s lineup is locked (Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez) and there is no surety of getting a shot at the sister team too. Formu1a.uno now reports that Lawson is an “outside contender” for the Audi seat.
However, that isn’t to say that Red Bull is ready to let him go without a fight. Lawson is gifted, and he could be an invaluable asset to V-CARB. Even though having the New Zealander would mean having to make the difficult call of sacking either Ricciardo or Tsunoda, Red Bull has the entire ordeal under consideration.
Who Liam Lawson has to compete with
To get a seat at V-CARB, Ricciardo or Tsunoda has to leave. The latter has had a great start to the season, owing to which his stay in the team looks all but confirmed – at least for 2025. The same, however, can’t be said about Ricciardo.
The honey badger had a tough beginning to 2024, but he too, is slowly getting up to speed. This isn’t ideal for Lawson, who wants to get to F1 as soon possible, with or without Red Bull’s help.
Rumours coming from Italy:
— Sergio Rodríguez ✍️ (@sergiorf97) June 24, 2024
Audi has already signed Nico Hulkenberg for 2025. And for the other seat, the German team has eyes on Carlos Sainz. But with Sainz also looking for options in Williams and Alpine, Audi will have a second option in mind. As things stand, Lawson is one of those options.
