Following the end of Sergio Pérez on Wednesday night, Red Bull announced the expected news on Thursday morning. The team fulfilled the assumptions and speculations according to which Liam Lawson will be preferred among the pilots of the sister stable RB. He will become Max Verstappen’s teammate in the 2025 season. The name of Júki Cunoda’s teammate in the sister team has not yet been announced.
There was already speculation on Wednesday evening that Red Bull would announce the confirmation of the New Zealander on the same day as Pérez’s dismissal, completing his public humiliation. However, the stable from Milton Keynes waited until Thursday morning and officially announced the expected news.
Lawson comes to the team with the experience of only eleven Formula 1 Grand Prix, so it is clear that he has a herculean task ahead of him in the new season. In the hot seat next to Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Pérez failed successively. Now it’s his turn, even if he has no experience to give.
Lawson will become one of Red Bull’s least experienced drivers at the premiere. In comparison, Alex Albon was promoted to the main team after twelve majors. In fact, the last time the team had such an inexperienced driver in the cockpit was in 2005 and 2006, when they tried – not very successfully – Vitantonio Liuzzi and the year after that Roberto Doornbos.
However, Red Bull believes in its youngster. Lawson introduced himself in the 2023 season when he very successfully replaced the injured Daniel Ricciardo in the AlphaTauri cockpit. This season, he replaced the Australian racer in the RB cockpit for good, but it cannot be said that he fulfilled expectations one hundred percent. He has entered the last six grands prix but has not beaten his team-mate in qualifying and has a similarly negative 4-2 record in races with him – Cunoda has also scored six more points in that period.
However, the stable from Milton Keynes still chose Lawson, which will not meet with the full understanding of the public, but only the team has all the data available.
“To be announced as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver is a lifelong dream that I have been chasing and working towards since I was eight years old. It’s been an incredible journey so far. I want to say a big thank you to the whole VCARB team for their support, the last six races have played a huge part in my preparation for this next step. I also want to thank Christian, Helmut and the whole Red Bull family for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. I am extremely excited to be working alongside Max and learning from a world champion – I will no doubt benefit from his experience. I can’t wait to get started!” he declared enthusiastically Lawson in the official announcement.
His new boss also joined Christian Horner. “I am delighted to announce that Liam Lawson will be joining the team in 2025. Liam’s performances during his two stints with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls team have shown that he is not only capable of achieving good results, but that he is a true racer who is not afraid to fight with the best and beat them.’
“Liam’s arrival continues the team’s long tradition of promoting drivers from the junior programme, following in the footsteps of champions such as Sebastian Vettel and, of course, Max Verstappen. There is no doubt that working alongside Max, a four-time world champion and certainly one of the best drivers in F1 history, is a difficult task, but I am sure that Liam will rise to the challenge and deliver excellent results for us next year.” the head of Red Bull declared with conviction.
