Perez and Ricciardo under fresh Red Bull axe threat after significant Lawson update

The pressure at Red Bull for Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo has risen again, as Liam Lawson is “definitely” going to have an F1 2025 seat within the Red Bull fold.

That assurance comes from Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko, who has added an intriguing fresh layer to their driver situation now that Lawson is apparently guaranteed a spot on the F1 2025 grid with one of the Red Bull-owned teams.

Liam Lawson ‘definitely’ racing for a Red Bull team in F1 2025

With Perez struggling at Red Bull as McLaren close in on the Constructors’ Championship leaders, the axe threat grew strong going into the summer break, with current Red Bull reserve Lawson emerging as a contender to replace Perez alongside VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo, who himself has the spectre of Lawson looming large after a challenging campaign at times.

Red Bull ultimately opted for no line-up changes over the summer break, which led to speculation over Lawson’s future with Marko himself having previously claimed that Lawson has an exit clause in his contract should Red Bull not provide him a seat. It was claimed that Red Bull had until the end of September to stop that clause becoming active.

But it is one that the team will apparently not need to worry about, as Marko confirmed that Lawson will race with either the Red Bull or VCARB team in F1 2025.

“He will definitely be in one of our cars next year,” said Marko of Lawson to Kleine Zeitung .

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With three-time World Champion and F1 2024 Championship leader Max Verstappen secure at Red Bull, while Tsunoda has been retained by VCARB for F1 2025, that would mean that either Perez or Ricciardo would be set to make way for Lawson.

And if Perez wants to be the driver who avoids being left out in the cold, then Marko says Red Bull need to see greater consistency from the Mexican, who once again dropped off dramatically after a strong start to the season.

“If Checo consistently delivers his normal speed, we’ll be happy,” said Marko. “But he always has these fluctuations somewhere, whether in qualifying or a certain section of the race.

“The consistency is not there, that’s the problem.”

Lawson made his Formula 1 debut with the Red Bull second team in 2023, replacing Ricciardo after the eight-time race winner suffered a broken hand in a practice crash at Zandvoort.

The New Zealander would impress in what proved to be a five-race stint, the highlight being a P9 finish in Singapore.

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