Liam Lawson has been warned that he could be dropped midseason if his results do not pick up with young prodigy Arvid Lindblad waiting in the wings.

The Kiwi has already suffered one demotion this season having lost the Red Bull seat after just two races and Juan Pablo Montoya has warned it could happen again.

Liam Lawson warned of potential Racing Bulls demotion

Since returning from Red Bull, Lawson has struggled for form at Racing Bulls and while team-mate Isack Hadjar has scored five points, Lawson has yet to get off the mark.

It is that form that has Montoya wondering if Lawson could again lose his seat.

“I’ll tell you the truth. If Liam doesn’t improve any further, I wouldn’t be surprised if they put Lindblad in at some point. Not at all. I wouldn’t be a little surprised,” he told AS.

“Honestly, Liam has been given the green light last year and has proven that he has what it takes to do a good job. They gave him the Red Bull seat, and he won it.

“The Red Bull situation was complicated and I think it took a very strong blow to his liver, and he needs a lot of psychological treatment after that. And if he doesn’t recover soon, I’m sure Red Bull will start looking elsewhere because that’s how they work.

“It’s Red Bull, it’s a bit like what’s happening with Alpine right now. Whenever Franco [Colapinto] doesn’t do well, the same thing will happen.”

Lindblad is highly thought of within the Red Bull system and senior advisor Helmut Marko has often talked up the prospect of the 17-year-old.

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Marko told the Inside Line F1 podcast: “We are not looking for a new Max, we are looking for a new champion and I think the next one which looks really promising is Arvid Lindblad.”

“I think in the past, if I compare with [Jack] Doohan, or with [Oscar] Piastri, or also with [Oliver] Bearman, they had a lot of tests in the two-year-old version Formula 1 car. And we want… For example, Liam Lawson didn’t have this opportunity, and also [Isack] Hadjar, to a certain amount, didn’t have this opportunity.

“And this we will change for Arvid that he, if he makes a very good season in Formula 2, that he can go with good experience into Formula 1 in 2026. Maybe.”

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