It seems Red Bull has no available slots in its Formula 1 racing lineup for Liam Lawson.
The energy drink giant's F1 program has been actively looking to secure a race seat for the notable 22-year-old Kiwi, who is presently the main F1 reserve for Red Bull.
"We have a strong driver who, contractually, can drive for another team if he does not get a seat with us in 2025," Red Bull F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko stated to Kleine Zeitung earlier.
Initially, there was a possibility of integrating Lawson into the second team RB for the year 2025, potentially replacing either Daniel Ricciardo or Yuki Tsunoda, who may have advanced to the premier team in Sergio Perez's place.
Nevertheless, it's now official that Perez will remain with Red Bull Racing for another two seasons, and RB's CEO Peter Bayer expressed in Monaco his preference to keep both Ricciardo and Tsunoda for 2025.
"Red Bull's decisions are sometimes not completely understandable," former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher commented to Sky Deutschland, "because they have a lot of people in their own junior program.
But there are also financial reasons, because Max Verstappen is expensive and Perez brings in a lot of money through sponsors.
"You also hear that Christian Horner does not agree with restructuring the team," Schumacher added. "That's why he would have said Tsunoda will not end up at Red Bull. And I don't think Liam Lawson is that welcome either."
With likely no vacancies at either RB or Red Bull Racing for Lawson in the upcoming year, he is contractually free to explore opportunities with other F1 teams for 2025.
"I have no idea," Lawson chuckled when queried by Talksport about his prospects. "Everything is changing at the moment. There are a lot of drivers moving around."
"At the moment, I don't really know where I slot into that, or if I do at all. It's something that I'm working towards every day at the moment," he mentioned.
"I would love to be with Red Bull in F1. This is my sixth year with them now. But obviously, if there's no seat there, my goal is F1. So that could be anywhere."
Despite the circumstances, Lawson is not eager to remain merely as Red Bull's F1 reserve after this season.
"I don't want to be in F1 because someone is injured," he declared. "I want to be in F1 because a team chooses for me to be there full time.
