Red Bull told they must keep Liam Lawson for the 2026 F1 season in fear of repeating one crucial mistake

Liam Lawson is fighting to keep his Formula 1 career alive in 2025 after being demoted from Red Bull to Racing Bulls.

The New Zealander was chosen over Yuki Tsunoda to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, having impressed Christian Horner in his brief spell at Racing Bulls in 2024. However, like many drivers before him, Lawson struggled to adapt to the nature of a car that has been so tailored to Max Verstappen’s setup.

Lawson was knocked out in Q1 on debut in Melbourne and crashed out of the race in the tricky conditions. He had never driven the track before, but that performance was enough for Helmut Marko to want him gone, only for Horner to save Lawson and give him another chance in Shanghai.

It would only get worse for the 23-year-old, as he qualified last for the Sprint and main race and failed to score points. Horner said Lawson was in a ‘spiral’ after China; he knew he had to take him out of the team.

Sure enough, Tsunoda was brought in from the Japanese GP onwards, giving Lawson the shortest Red Bull career in F1 history. Now back at Racing Bulls, he is in a low-pressure and familiar environment, which should give him the chance to regain his confidence.

The Kiwi driver will need to, as his contract is up at the end of the season. But Christijan Albers thinks Red Bull will not drop Lawson come 2026.

Red Bull may keep Liam Lawson to avoid bad publicity of dropping another driver

Franz Tost told Lawson to forget about the past and what happened at Red Bull, and just focus solely on his efforts at Racing Bulls. However, his demotion is still clearly having an effect on him as he struggles to find results.

Lawson is yet to score after seven races in 2025, as he has been completely outclassed by teammate Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman has regularly got his VCARB 02 into Q3 and the points, having grabbed seven thus far.

With his contract up in 2025 and results lacking, speculation has grown that Lawson could be out of F1 entirely at the end of the year. The New Zealander is already the fourth driver to be dropped by the main Red Bull team since 2019 and the eighth to lose any seat in the setup since 2015.

Red Bull’s notorious handling of drivers has prompted substantial criticism from fans and pundits over the years. Former F1 driver Albers thinks they will keep Lawson on board in 2026 to avoid any further bad publicity.

“I do not know if they still want this for the publicity and all the things, to throw someone out,” said the Dutchman via Telesport.

“I think they hope they’ve learned from the past and they just leave him there for a while and that he can just get over it and be competitive again.”

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Liam Lawson must take advantage of Red Bull’s support to save his seat in 2026

With 17 races still to go, Lawson has plenty of time to recover his confidence and find form at Racing Bulls. But at present, he cannot match his teammate Hadjar and is struggling to break into Q2.

F1 Oversteer understands that Red Bull are happy with Lawson, putting his poor results down to bad luck rather than a lack of ability. It seems the team still have faith in the New Zealander and are willing to give him the time needed to improve.

But that will not stop him from facing pressure to stay on the grid in 2026. Red Bull could promote Arvid Lindblad to F1 if he has an impressive season in F2 this year.

Juan Pablo Montoya would not be surprised if Lawson was axed mid-season, after seeing Jack Doohan lose his seat at Alpine after the Miami GP. Journalist Felix Gorner says Lawson will ‘certainly’ lose his seat come 2026; it is up to him to turn his fortunes around.