Lawson's future confirmed as Racing Bulls back Kiwi for 2027 season

After months of speculation, Racing Bulls have confirmed Formula One’s worst kept secret: Liam Lawson will remain on the grid for the 2027 season, as part of an unchanged line-up. 

The 24-year-old was understood to be in a battle with Bulgarian Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov for his Racing Bulls seat, with the team’s purpose as being a development vehicle coming into sharp focus. 

However, with Lawson being one of 2026’s standout drivers – with 15 points finishes from 20 grands prix – the Kiwi and teammate Arvid Lindblad have been backed to carry on for another season at least. 

“We’ve had a brilliant season together and the team has worked very hard to produce a fast car, which I’ve loved driving,” Lawson said. 

“It feels great to be part of a historic season for the team as we continue our fight for [fifth] in the constructors’ championship. It’s a testament to the hard work of everyone both at track, and back at the factory. 

“I’m looking forward to carrying this moment forward with Arvid through to 2027; we’re building something super positive and I’m excited by what we can achieve together.” 

The Herald understands Lawson’s future was secured through Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane, who vouched for him throughout Red Bull’s decision-making process. After his own contract extension was announced in Brazil, Permane hinted “everyone will be happy” with the line-up decision Racing Bulls made. 

Lawson and Lindblad are currently on course to deliver Racing Bulls fifth place in the constructors championship – what would be the best result in the team’s history – and leave just one seat to be filled on next year’s grid. 

Only Haas are yet to formally announce their 2027 driver pairing, with Ferrari junior Rafael Camara taking the place of Esteban Ocon, who left the team with immediate effect, while Ollie Bearman remains unsigned. 

Liam Lawson at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Photo / Red Bull 

Herald sources have indicated that Tsolov will instead be offered a reserve driver role for Racing Bulls next year, as well as a potential season in Japan’s Super Formula Championship, provided he does not win the Formula Two title. 

Lawson’s extension comes amid a breakthrough season for the Kiwi, after his rapid promotion and then demotion in 2025. In the two seasons since, though, Lawson has quickly but quietly become one of the grid’s standout drivers. 

In 20 grands prix and six sprint races this season, Lawson has scored 89 points to sit ninth in the drivers championship heading to Austin and sits comfortably clear of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, another Frenchman, as the “best of the rest” – the highest-placed outside of the top four teams. 

Most importantly, though, Lawson has contributed 75 of Racing Bulls’ 114 points in the battle against Alpine to finish fifth in the constructors championship, with an estimated $180 million in prizemoney. 

In fact, Lawson’s form has been so good, he currently leads Alpine by 20 points on his own, including the 14 he scored in a three-race stint back at Red Bull as an injury replacement for Isack Hadjar. 

And yet, Lawson’s place at Racing Bulls has still come under scrutiny this year. 

In June, Spanish outlet SoyMotor reported Tsolov had been guaranteed a seat at Racing Bulls for next year. While the team itself confirmed to the Herald very quickly that no guarantees had been given to any driver, Tsolov’s looming spectre has hung over the decision ever since. 

With Racing Bulls being a junior team intended to grow drivers for promotion to Red Bull, Tsolov theoretically fits that bill closer than Lawson does, with his value understood to have dropped in the organisation’s eyes after his 2025 spell, despite a strong three-race return in deputising for an injured Isack Hadjar earlier this year. 

Liam Lawson at the Monaco Grand Prix. Photo / Photosport 

But while Tsolov did at one point hold a comfortable lead in the Formula Two championship, the Bulgarian teenager’s form since being linked to Racing Bulls has dipped dramatically and has now seen him fall to second behind Camara. 

However, while Tsolov still – on paper – has a chance to win Formula Two, Racing Bulls have backed Lawson to continue to lead the team into next season, both on track as a driver and off track as a mentor to Lindblad. 

The Formula One season continues later this month with the Las Vegas Grand Prix, before finishing with the recently confirmed Qatar and Abu Dhabi grands prix. 

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.