Live coverage as Liam Lawson starts fifth in the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix

‘Get all the facts’: Deadline set for Red Bull decision between Lawson and Perez F1

Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s chief advisor, has set the deadline for formula oneof the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to determine which of Sergio Pérez or Liam Lawson will accompany Max Verstappen in 2025.

With Formula One currently in Brazil for the weekend Grand Prix and sprint raceKiwi Lawson and the Mexican Pérez have another opportunity to show their products one against the other.

Even though Red Bull’s senior team has a car that sees Verstappen at the top of the drivers’ championship, Perez is 216 points behind his teammate after Sunday morning’s sprint race, in the same car.

Lawson is only locked in RB – Red Bull’s subsidiary team – until the end of the current Formula One season. However the Herald understands that the contract is simply a way to test the Kiwi to determine which team he will drive for in 2025.

Since his return to Formula One, Lawson has taken a ninth place at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, before beating Pérez in his home race in Mexico – although with the pair crossing the line in 16th and 17th place respectively.

And although Lawson managed to qualify eighth for the sprint race in Brazil on Saturday, Pérez bounced back by finishing eighth to the New Zealander’s ninth and stealing the last available point.

Anyway, the two drivers shouldn’t be as close as they are on the track. Even with Perez’s problems dropping his team from first to third behind McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, Red Bull has a 482-point lead over its sister team.

But with a difference of tens of millions of dollars between finishing first and third, Red Bull has arguably left it too late to remove Perez from the top side to make any difference, with only four Grands Prix remaining in 2024.

However, speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Marko stressed that the decision on Perez’s future will not be made before the end of the season.

“Checo (Pérez) has a contract for next year, but we are evaluating the entire situation,” said the Austrian. “After Abu Dhabi we will know all the facts and we will make our decision.

“Liam has had a really positive return, he is a tough driver in the race, sometimes even too hard, as happened with Checo, but I think he was impressive.”

Marko has been a strong supporter of Lawson all season and earlier this year. correctly declared that the New Zealander would take a seat at Red Bull ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.

Red Bull is no stranger to driver layoffs. Lawson was only inducted this season after Marko and Christian Horner took the ax from Ricciardo following the Singapore Grand Prix.

Elsewhere on the grid, the pairing of Pierre Gasly (now with Alpine) and Alex Albon (now with Williams) were also eliminated, despite their points differences being much smaller than Perez’s compared to Verstappen.

Perhaps as another sign of what is to come for Perez, it is now widely speculated that Red Bull will make a move for current Williams driver Franco Colapinto.

From replacing Logan Sergeant After the Dutch Grand Prix, Colapinto has scored five points in the championship, courtesy of an eighth place at Monza and a tenth at Austin.

That success has seen Colapinto become a hot property on the grid, as Williams will be unable to retain him in 2025 after committing to Ferrari’s Albon and Carlos Sainz driver pairing.

He Herald understands that no driver outside the Red Bull program will be considered to partner Verstappen, meaning Colapinto would slot into RB, with Lawson the likely candidate to move up.

Lawson’s current teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, is unlikely to be considered for the senior Red Bull driver, as he will likely leave the team in 2026, along with main sponsor and engine supplier Honda.

However, if it comes down to Lawson or Colapinto, Marko again insists that any decision will be made at the end of the season.

“Between Franco and Liam? We will evaluate and decide after Abu Dhabi,” Marko continued.

“We have a contract with Lawson and we can put him on any team we want. Colapinto has a contract with Williams and must first be free of all obligations.”

If Colapinto does not move to RB, reserve driver Isack Hadjar would likely step up, having represented Red Bull in junior categories.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is ​​the last Formula One meeting in 2024 and will take place on December 9 (NZT).

After the Grand Prix, Formula One will remain in the United Arab Emirates to complete post-season testing, when Tsunoda and Hadjar will get behind the wheel of Red Bull and RB respectively.

Alex Powell is an online sports editor for New Zealand Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016 and previously worked for Newshub and 1News.