Liam Lawson is set to remain with Racing Bulls for the 2027 Formula 1 World Championship, alongside rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad, according to Sky Sports F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz, who reportedly said the team has already made the decision, despite its continued public insistence that its driver line-up remains undecided.
Given Liam’s outstanding performances this season, it’s difficult to imagine Racing Bulls reaching any other conclusion.
With six Grands Prix remaining, Liam Lawson has contributed an impressive 61% of Racing Bulls’ Constructors’ Championship points, comfortably outscoring his highly rated rookie teammate and playing a crucial role in lifting the team to fifth in the standings.
That percentage could have been higher if Lawson hadn’t spent three Grands Prix racing for Red Bull as a replacement for the injured Isack Hadjar, missing valuable opportunities to add to Racing Bulls’ points tally.
With fifth place potentially worth around NZ$20 million more than sixth, the commercial argument for retaining Lawson is as equally compelling as his racetrack performances.
For those who have followed Liam’s sometimes turbulent Formula 1 career, the reported decision will be particularly satisfying.
After his abrupt, commercially influenced demotion from Red Bull Racing early last season, Lawson could easily have found himself another casualty of Red Bull’s notoriously unforgiving driver-development programme.
Instead, Liam has responded in the best possible way. On the racetrack.
The numbers tell the story.
Liam currently sits ninth in the Drivers’ World Championship with 75 points. He earned fourteen of those points during his three-race return to the senior Red Bull team, leaving 61 points for Racing Bulls’ Constructors’ Championship tally.
Lindblad has contributed 38 points, with Yuki Tsunoda accounting for the remaining single point in the team’s total of 100.
The comparison is particularly revealing: Liam has contested only 14 of the 17 Grands Prix for Racing Bulls, while Lindblad has been with the team throughout the season. On a championship points-per-weekend basis, including sprint points, Liam has averaged 4.36 points compared with Lindblad’s 2.24.
That’s a 95% advantage.
The head-to-head comparisons are equally convincing. Liam leads Lindblad 9–5 in Grand Prix qualifying and 10–4 in their race results.
While Lindblad has certainly justified Red Bull’s confidence in promoting him to Formula 1 at such a young age, Liam’s combination of experience, consistency, and racecraft is producing significantly more championship points. And that’s what ultimately matters.
Liam’s first-lap aggression is becoming a trademark
One of the most impressive aspects of Lawson’s season has been his ability to advance through the field, particularly during the opening laps when opportunities best present themselves. The Bahrain Grand Prix, relocated to Malaysia’s Sepang circuit, provided a particularly memorable example.
Starting 11th in challenging wet conditions, Liam charged through the opening exchanges to briefly take fourth. Then came a moment that demonstrated just how much confidence he has developed.
With four-time World Champion Max Verstappen immediately ahead, Liam challenged the Dutchman for third, refusing to concede until the faster Red Bull’s advantage became apparent. For several corners, the Racing Bulls driver took the fight to Verstappen.
It was an impressive display of controlled aggression, especially given the challenging conditions and the performance gap between the two cars.
Equally importantly, Liam recognised when to back off rather than compromise his own race. As conditions changed and the faster cars recovered their positions, he focused on securing the best possible result, finishing seventh and taking six championship points.
The performance highlighted an increasingly valuable quality in Lawson’s driving: the ability to spot an opportunity, commit decisively, and then use the judgement to finish the job.
Singapore: Another six points in the bank
Just seven days later, Lawson demonstrated those same qualities in Singapore. This time, the decisive moment came at the very first corner.
Having qualified ninth and moved up to eighth on the starting grid, Lawson knew that getting ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was essential.
With Lawson on soft tyres and Gasly on mediums, Lawson had the chance to make an immediate move before the race settled into the familiar Singapore procession. Liam made that critical pass into Turn 1, and the die was cast. It was a calculated move, executed at the right moment.
Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane later confirmed its significance, noting that once Liam passed Gasly, he established and maintained a comfortable advantage.
Lawson finished seventh, collecting another six championship points, while Lindblad finished 15th after a difficult opening sequence. More importantly for Racing Bulls, Alpine scored no points.
Two consecutive seventh-place finishes had delivered 12 points for the team at a critical stage of its championship campaign.
More than a handful of standout races
Malaysia and Singapore were particularly impressive, but they are hardly isolated examples. In China, Lawson converted 13th on the grid into seventh.
In Japan, he climbed from 14th to ninth, while at Silverstone he finished sixth from tenth. At Monaco, where overtaking opportunities are notoriously limited, Liam secured fifth place, his best Formula 1 result to date.
Hungary offered another example of his opening-lap racecraft, as he gained three places from 11th on the grid before finishing eighth.
Not every position gained between the start and finish can be attributed to overtaking. Strategy, retirements and changing race conditions inevitably influence the results. Nevertheless, the pattern is compelling.
Liam has repeatedly shown he can turn midfield starts into valuable championship points. For a team that cannot rely on regularly qualifying among the front-runners, that ability is particularly important.
The $20 million consideration
Racing Bulls currently sits in fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 100 points, 32 points ahead of Alpine. Retaining that position should not be underestimated.
Published estimates of Formula 1’s 2025 commercial distributions valued fifth place at approximately US$130 million, compared with US$119 million for sixth. That’s a US$11 million difference, or about NZ$20 million.
Although the final 2026 distributions will depend on the championship’s commercial arrangements, finishing one position higher is financially significant. And this is where Lawson’s contribution becomes particularly relevant.
His 61 Racing Bulls points are just seven fewer than Alpine’s entire two-driver tally of 68.
Remove Liam’s contribution from Racing Bulls’ results, with everything else unchanged, and the team would have accumulated just 39 points.
Of course, another driver in his seat would have scored points, but the comparison demonstrates just how significant Liam’s performances have been to Racing Bulls’ championship position.
Indeed, his 61% contribution to the team’s total is perhaps the single most compelling statistic supporting his retention. With six Grands Prix remaining, Racing Bulls is well placed to secure fifth, potentially adding millions to the team’s commercial revenue. Liam has been instrumental in putting it there.
From Red Bull rejection to renewed opportunity
It is worth remembering how quickly Liam’s Formula 1 career appeared to unravel following his promotion to Red Bull Racing for the start of the 2025 season. After just two Grands Prix, he was rather ‘conveniently’ relegated to Racing Bulls, an experience that would test any young driver’s confidence and determination.
However, Liam has steadily rebuilt his reputation and emerged this season as one of the midfield’s most effective performers. His temporary recall to the senior team for three races this year gave him another chance to prove his capabilities.
Substituting for the injured Isack Hadjar, Liam scored 14 championship points, highlighted by sixth place in Spain and seventh in the Netherlands.
His Zandvoort performance reminded everyone of his willingness to race against the best. His return put him alongside Verstappen as a Red Bull driver, giving him another chance to prove his competitiveness at the sharp end of the field.
His performances have also underlined the value of retaining an experienced driver as teams continue developing cars built around Formula 1’s dramatically revised 2026 technical regulations.
Why change a successful combination?
Racing Bulls’ role within the Red Bull organisation inevitably complicates driver decisions.
The team is expected to develop young talent for potential promotion to the senior Red Bull operation, with Formula 2 contender Nikola Tsolov standing in the wings, backed by a reportedly very large sponsor.
Lindblad has shown sufficient promise to justify a second season, while Liam has clearly demonstrated the benefits of experience. Keeping both drivers will provide continuity and a sensible balance between development and results.
Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane has publicly said the team will decide on its 2027 line-up in the coming weeks, but Kravitz’s paddock information suggests the matter is already settled. Retaining both drivers is a logical outcome of a productive season.
And for Liam, another year with Racing Bulls would provide something that has been largely missing throughout his Formula 1 career. Stability.
A decision supported by results
Six Grands Prix remain, and Racing Bulls will need to maintain its advantage over Alpine to secure fifth in the championship. But Lawson has already made a compelling case for his place on the 2027 grid.
He is ninth in the Drivers’ Championship, has scored almost twice as many points per Racing Bulls weekend as his teammate, and has consistently shown the racecraft to turn difficult starts into championship points.
Most significantly, he has contributed 61% of the points behind Racing Bulls’ potentially lucrative fifth-place finish. Those are impressive numbers by any measure.
For Liam, whose Formula 1 career has already seen more than its share of unexpected setbacks, a confirmed 2027 seat would be well deserved. If Ted Kravitz is right that Racing Bulls has already made its decision, the team’s management has simply recognised what Lawson’s performances have shown us all season.
Keep the driver delivering results.
IT’S A NO-BRAINER!
SOURCE NOTE: The 2027 decision, as reported through Ted Kravitz, is not yet confirmed by Racing Bulls. The NZ$20 million financial comparison is an approximate conversion of reported historical prize-money estimates, not a confirmed 2026 payout.
Header Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
I wonder if Liam had any input into the improvement of the red bull car.
The press keep saying he did.