Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has responded to claims made by his team’s senior advisor Helmut Marko that Liam Lawson will ‘definitely be in one of our cars next year’.
Horner has reiterated that a decision has yet to be made, and there are no guarantees that the Kiwi will drive a Red Bull or RB car next year.
“A drive. I asked him quite clearly, and he said he’ll have a drive in Formula 1 next season,” Horner told Sky Sports at Zandvoort when asked about Marko’s comments.
“Doesn’t mean we could rent him out.”
Horner was then pressed on the last part of his statement and whether Lawson could instead drive elsewhere, with the likes of Sauber yet to complete their driver lineup.
“Nothing is fixed,” he said.
“If we don’t take up the option on Liam, then he’s a free driver for 2025.
“So we’ve got specific time periods within drivers’ contracts where that becomes prevalent.
“So yes, I checked with Helmut, his comment earlier, and he said ‘No, I didn’t say which car, he just said a drive’.”
Daniel Ricciardo is the only Red Bull or RB driver yet to have a contract signed for 2025, but could replace a struggling Sergio Perez should he fail to fire over the second half of the season.
Lawson has also been linked to Red Bull’s senior team should Perez continue his poor run of form, but Horner is confident the Mexican can deliver.
“It is about performance,” he said.
“For us, we’ve got the two drivers that we believe, in our pool of drivers, are the most capable of giving us the best results.
“If there was a doubt in that, then we would have changed it.”
