Peter Bayer (r) very satisfied » with his Racing Bulls drivers

Liam Lawson’s hopes of being on the F1 grid in 2025 took a hit after Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer said he was « very satisfied » with his current lineup of drivers.

The contracts of the two Racing Bulls drivers end at the end of the year, and given the impressive performance of Liam Lawson last year, he was expected to have a full-time position in 2025. But it appears that the initial plan of the Austrian team, which was to place Daniel Ricciardo alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda alongside Lawson in the junior team, is no longer valid.

Ricciardo’s form alongside Tsunoda has been very below par, meaning that Red Bull prioritizes Sergio Perez, with rumors suggesting that his new contract could be announced in the coming weeks. Tsunoda, on the other hand, has been impressive this season and deserves to be extended, to continue to gain maturity and consider a future at Red Bull.

Peter Bayer does not want to discuss the composition of the team for next year, clearly indicating that he is satisfied with the current duo. We are very satisfied with our two drivers. And honestly, we don’t waste time discussing assumptions and possibilities.

We have a very solid line-up. We have an excellent reserve driver. We have great talents coming up in F2, F3. Currently, everything is focused on performance, the emphasis is more on Aston Martin ahead of us than on discussions about drivers.

He hinted that the driver lineup would not be a topic of discussion before the summer break. « Liam is an extremely valuable member of the team, » he added. « He is with us every weekend, obviously. He does a lot of work in the simulator. »

« But as I said before, currently we have two drivers in the cars. We find performance with these two. And we really aren’t discussing the situation for 2025, perhaps because we are fortunate to have a strong talent pyramid behind us. The focus is really on the track and the upcoming races until the summer break.