Red bull's future: Is Liam Lawson apart of it?

21-year-old rookie Liam Lawson joined the grid in Zandvoort, standing in for Daniel Ricciardo at Alpha Tauri in the wake of the Australians broken hand. However, the Redbull management made it clear who the junior teams line up will become in 2024, Lawson is not on their list, instead the Italian team has locked in Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. But will there be space for him at the senior team?

Sergio Perez had a rocket ship start to the 2023 season, The Mexican took two wins and a pole position in the opening four races and revealed himself to be just as much competition for the championship as his teammate Max Verstappen. But Sergio’s luck did not last, the 33-year-old putting on a poor show. Despite being in the same car as Verstappen who went on to secure a 15-win streak – breaking Sebastian Vettel’s record, Perez began to struggle even getting his car Into Q3. The Mexican only has 5 top ten starting positions to his name within the last 11 races.

In Singapore, Lawson outqualified both redbull drivers, pushing Verstappen out of a 10th place start and into p11, Perez down to p13. Despite it being due to mechanical issues on redbulls behalf, Lawson was also 5 positions ahead of teammate Tsunoda. Going on to gain a place and finish the race in p9. Lawson has produced some stella performances within the 4 races he’s participated in and has proved himself worthy of a seat on the grid.

Photo Credit.. Kym Illman

In the aftermath of Sergios Monaco win in 2022, the 6-time race winner received a 2-year contract extension, but will it stick? The Redbull teams are far from truthful when it comes to contracts. Pierre Gasly was dropped mid-way through 2019 for Alexander Albon and Albon dropped for Perez and Devries dropped this year for Ricciardo. Perez’ poor performance and Helmut Markos unsavoury comments have caused speculation that when redbull have a suitable replacement he will find himself out of a spot on the grid, it is undeniable Lawson fits the quota.

Merecedes AMG are set to make a strong comeback next year with one of their factory-based mechanics stating “The hours can be long during the busy parts of the season, but it is very rewarding seeing the results of the hard-work on track during the race weekends. I moved from the engine side to the chassis side in 2022. This is the first time in the last decade that we haven’t had the fastest 2 cars on the grid and we are more determined than ever to get back to where we want to be - on the top step of the podium. We are all working around the clock to find the extra performance and reliability for the car to get us back to the top. There is a calm and collected approach within the factory”.

With the Milton Keynes team predicted to come back strong in 2024, Redbull need an even stronger line up now more than ever. Perez cannot afford to appear dead weight. His 223-point gap tom Verstappen is not helping his case. Redbull have already clinched their 3rd consecutive constructor’s championship after Verstappen’s win in Japan but with Max also expected to win in Qatar, Perez is left with only 5 races left to score points and restore his reputation and appeal in Ruthless Team Principle Christian Horner’s eyes.