Red Bull receive valuable Liam Lawson RB20 data ahead of huge 2025 decision

Ahead of his return to the F1 grid, Liam Lawson was behind the wheel for Red Bull as part of Pirelli testing duties.

Having debuted in a five-race stint in the place of Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, Lawson is back behind the wheel at Red Bull’s second team as of the F1 2024 United States Grand Prix, with Red Bull opting to swap Ricciardo out for Lawson with six rounds of the season to go.

Liam Lawson appears for Red Bull in Pirelli test

Lawson served as Red Bull’s reserve driver ahead of this call-up to replace Ricciardo, and as the US GP draws closer, he got some fresh laps under his belt in the Red Bull RB20 while taking part in a Pirelli tyre test.

Lawson completed 116 laps of the Mugello Circuit on Wednesday, as Red Bull and Ferrari, represented by current drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, focused on the F1 2025 Pirelli compounds, while Lando Norris and McLaren ran a mule car to test the F1 2026 prototype tyres.

18-inch wheels will remain in use from F1 2026, but with the width and tyre diameter slightly reduced.

With VCARB yet to confirm their F1 2025 line-up, with Sergio Perez’s spot at Red Bull not guaranteed, Lawson faces a crucial six-round audition to work his way into the team’s plans for the F1 2025 grid.

How the F1 2025 and F1 2026 grids are shaping up

👉 F1 2025 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2025 grid?

👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Lewis Hamilton and 12 other drivers already confirmed for 2026

And Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko expects to see Lawson put in performances worthy of a place on the grid, as he goes up against team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, a part of the Red Bull second team since his F1 2021 debut.

“Liam Lawson can now contest the last six rounds of the World Championship for the Racing Bulls team, we will evaluate how he compares to Yuki Tsunoda and then we will see,” Marko wrote in his column for Speedweek .

“He has to deliver a Formula 1 worthy performance, as he has already done in his previous GP appearances.

“We have other strong juniors in the junior squad, such as Ayumu Iwasa and Isack Hadjar. We will use them in the rookie sprint, which will be held on the junior test day after the season finale in Abu Dhabi [since delayed until 2025 at earliest]. Then we’ll see what happens next.”

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