Red Bull star's F1 future boosted with rival tipped to race in Japan in 2027

Lindblad, Lawson and Bortoleto in respective team kit in conversation walking through paddock — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Red Bull star's F1 future boosted with rival tipped to race in Japan in 2027

One more year! One more year!

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Wednesday 16 September 2026 22:27

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Liam Lawson might not be driving for Red Bull next year (unless Isack Hadjar's wrist injury is much worse than we realise), but it looks like HE IS going to get a fifth year as an F1 driver.

There was talk earlier in the year that highly-touted Bulgarian teenager Nikola Tsolov was in the frame for a Racing Bulls seat for the 2027 season which, given that Arvid Lindblad has also impressed in his debut season and Lawson has been with the team for some time, would likely spell trouble for the Kiwi.

The 24-year-old Lawson has still yet to run a full season for the same team, with a brief promotion to Red Bull last year after 11 races for AlphaTauri/VCARB across 2023 and 2024, and another stint with the senior Red Bull team in injury relief for Isack Hadjar at the most recent three races.

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The Red Bull setup has typically been ruthless in cutting drivers after relatively short tryouts, but a change in leadership over the last couple of years - with Christian Horner and the influential Helmut Marko both departing - may have changed that philosophy slightly.

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Lawson set for F1 reprieve

Lawson is also helped by the fact that he's been impressive behind the wheel so far this year, comfortably outscoring Lindblad to sit as 'best of the rest' behind drivers from the top four teams in the championship standings.

Hidden in a New Zealand Herald column about Lawson's future on Sunday was a small but key nugget of reporting – claiming that Tsolov looks set for a 2027 role as either a Racing Bulls reserve driver or a seat in the Japanese Super Formula series.

Red Bull have used Super Formula as a kind of finishing school for young drivers, with Lawson himself heading to Japan for a year after his second F2 season, winning three races on his way to second in the 2023 championship - a season in which he also made his F1 debut between rounds 7 and 8 of the Super Formula calendar, replacing an injured Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls.

Pierre Gasly followed a remarkably similar path into F1 to Lawson, jumping into a Super Formula seat after two full F2 seasons, a second place finish in the championship, and an F1 debut between the seventh and eighth rounds of the Super Formula season (although in Gasly's case, he stayed in F1 while the last two rounds of the Japanese season were cancelled due to Typhoon Lan).

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