F1: Liam Lawson to take the seat on Red Bull, partnering with Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing names RB Honda driver Liam Lawson to fill the vacant seat for the F1 2025 season. Lawson’s selection comes just one day after Red Bull announced driver Sergio Perez will be leaving the team at the end of 2024.
The cascade of driver changes follows a bittersweet 2024 Grand Prix season in which Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won his fourth Drivers’ Championship. Perez’s lackluster performance since June resulted in Red Bull falling to third place in the Constructors’ Championship. Combined drivers’ Championship points determine the Constructors’ title, which includes financial awards based primarily on the teams finishing order in points.
Liam Lawson as the second Red Bull driver
Lawson will be Max Verstappen’s teammate. Red Bull hopes that Lawson can be a consistent point scorer, placing high enough that, combined with Verstappen’s assumed continued dominance, the two drivers will snare the Constructors’ title for the team.
Lawson has been driving for Red Bull’s second team, RB Honda. He was promoted to that seat midway through the 2024 season when he replaced popular driver Daniel Ricciardo, who tried unsuccessfully to make a comeback after being out of F1 for a stint.
Previously, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner stated that if Perez left Red Bull, Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, the other RB Honda driver, would be candidates for the Red Bull seat. Lawson won, and Tsunoda, who has driven for RB Honda since 2021, lost.
What happens next with RB Honda
Red Bull has a deep racing organization with many promising drivers. The current speculation is that the 2024 F2 runner-up Izack Hadjar will fill the second seat for RB Honda.
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