Red Bull star prepared to leave team for better chance of winning

Liam Lawson has admitted that his future may lie outside the Red Bull organisation, as he continues to wait for a contract extension.

The Racing Bulls star is in his fourth season as an F1 driver, having put up 12 late-season appearances in relief across his first two years before driving full-time in 2025 and 2026 – albeit oscillating between Red Bull and Racing Bulls in each of those seasons.

Despite Lawson's strong season, which has seen him almost double team-mate Arvid Lindblad's points tally up to the US Grand Prix, there are still suggestions that he could be jettisoned for teenager Nikola Tsolov for 2027.

Even if he hangs on, he currently seems unlikely to be promoted to Red Bull thanks to Isack Hadjar's impressive progress alongside Max Verstappen, leaving his future beyond 2027 a mystery.

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Lawson: I'll go where the best chance of winning is

Asked if it made sense for him to head out of the Red Bull stable after the 2027 season – assuming he is retained next year – the New Zealander said: "I don't know if I have to do anything, but I think, for me personally, I mean, for all of us as drivers, our goal is to win.

"So for me, my focus is to put myself in a position where I can be winning for one, and if I can go to a team that gives me a better chance to do that, that's obviously what we're what we get to do.

"So the Red Bull specifics of it, I think they've shown many times in the past that sometimes that's not entirely why they make decisions, so it is something that I don't know what's going to happen next year, but for me, it's honestly not really what I'm thinking about now.

"I think that's something that has always been sort of talked about, and obviously you always try to cover your bases. But right now, not too much. It's not something that I would say I'm thinking about too much.

"I've had a really good first half of the year. Honestly, had a good couple of races at Red Bull, and now we're going to some good tracks for the rest of the year, and we're obviously well in the fight for P5 [in the constructors'], so that's what I'm focused on."

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