In a significant announcement for the 2024 Formula 1 season, Red Bull Racing has confirmed their driver lineup.
While Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda have secured seats with the Italian team, the fate of young talent Liam Lawson has taken an unexpected turn.
AlphaTauri faced the challenge of choosing from their impressive trio of drivers, with Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson all demonstrating their skills at the sister team, AlphaTauri.
Unfortunately for Lawson, he did not make the final cut for 2024, despite his impressive performances. Instead, he will assume the role of Red Bull Racing’s reserve driver.
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Rumours had circulated that Liam Lawson had been promised a guaranteed seat for the 2025 season due to his reserve role in 2024.
However, team boss Christian Horner vehemently denied these claims, stating, “There are no guarantees of anything in life.
“He’s done a great job; he’s really impressed us.”
In the 2023 season, AlphaTauri experimented with multiple drivers, including Lawson, Ricciardo, Tsunoda, and Nyck de Vries.
However, Nyck de Vries was released from the team after just ten races, paving the way for Ricciardo to join the squad.
Unfortunately for Ricciardo, his tenure was cut short after only two races due to an injury sustained during a practice session crash.
Liam Lawson was then given the opportunity to step into the cockpit.
Lawson exceeded expectations during his four-race stint as Ricciardo’s replacement, even managing to secure valuable championship points—a rarity for AlphaTauri in 2023.
Impressively, he outperformed his teammate Tsunoda in three out of four weekends.
Despite these achievements, a permanent seat for the upcoming season was not offered to the New Zealander, who will have to settle for the role of reserve driver.
Horner praised Lawson’s performance, acknowledging that the young driver had done everything possible to secure a 2024 seat.
He also hinted at the prospect of Lawson making a permanent return to Formula 1, stating, “It will be a matter of time before his driver gets a permanent spot in Formula 1.”
Looking ahead to the 2025 season, Horner emphasised that Lawson remains a “candidate” for a full-time role.
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“He’s done exactly what we could have asked for in terms of grabbing the opportunity in Daniel’s absence to really show his capability,” said Horner.
“That’s turned some heads and it’s done him a lot of good.
“We’ll keep developing him when he goes back into that test and reserve role, and he’ll be a candidate certainly for 2025.”
