Spanish media reports Lawson to lose F1 seat, Racing Bulls respond

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Author: Alex Powell,
Publish Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2026, 8:24am

Racing Bulls has distanced itself from reports Liam Lawson will be dropped from the 2027 Formula One grid.

Overnight, Spanish outlet SoyMotor reported that Red Bull Formula Two driver Nikola Tsolov has been guaranteed a seat at junior side Racing Bulls for next season, with Lawson to be the one to make way – unless Max Verstappen leaves the organisation.

Tsolov currently sits second in this season’s Formula Two championship, six points off the lead, having won two feature races and one sprint.

However, when approached for comment by the Herald, Racing Bulls confirmed nothing is in place for next year.

“We’re very much focussed on our 2026 season, and haven’t confirmed anything for 2027,” a Racing Bulls spokesperson told the Herald.

While Tsolov has shown promise in junior categories, Lawson being the one to make way would be a huge call for Red Bull to make, based on current form.

Seven race weekends into the season, the Kiwi sits 10th in the drivers standings with 28 points, having scored in five grands prix and one sprint.

Those returns see Lawson 15 points clear of junior teammate Arvid Lindblad, who is 13th in the standings.

What’s more, only Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in eighth sits higher in the standings than Lawson for drivers outside of Formula One’s top four – Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

Red Bull deciding its driver lineups for Racing Bulls this early in the year – privately or publicly – would be out of character for the organisation.

In the last two years, the driver pairings for both teams have not been finalised until the final weeks of the season.

Furthermore, Tsolov does not currently hold an FIA super licence required to drive in Formula One. At present, the 19-year-old has 25 points, shy of the 40 needed to acquire a super licence in time for next year.

While Tsolov would need to finish fifth or higher in this season’s Formula Two championship to obtain it, the Bulgarian was also overlooked to drive for Red Bull during free practice one in Barcelona, as Racing Bulls’ reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa got the opportunity instead.

And yet, given the purpose of Racing Bulls as a team, Lawson’s place will come under scrutiny, if Red Bull have ruled him out of returning to their ranks in the future.

Being a junior side, Racing Bulls is seen by Red Bull as a development pathway for drivers to step into its senior ranks.

Lawson was promoted from Racing Bulls to Red Bull at the end of 2024, only to be brutally dropped just two races into 2025.

In the time since, Lawson has rebuilt back at Racing Bulls, but was overlooked in favour of Isack Hadjar to be re-promoted for this season.

Hadjar’s results have been far from convincing since his move up, and sits ninth in the drivers championship, six points clear of Lawson, and 21 back from teammate Verstappen.

Verstappen’s future also remains unclear, with it widely understood that he can leave Red Bull, should he sit outside the top two in the drivers standings at the mid-season summer break.

After Barcelona, Verstappen is 60 points adrift of second place.

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