Lawson's situation
This week, Red Bull will hold a key meeting to define the future of Liam Lawson, a New Zealand driver who has had a challenging start in Formula 1 and whose continuity in the category is in doubt.
For now, the Argentine driver will remain at Alpine, which has already shown its intentions to retain him in the team in the event of any potential changes in the main drivers
Lawson's situation
This week, Red Bull will hold a key meeting to define the future of Liam Lawson, a New Zealand driver who has had a challenging start in Formula 1 and whose continuity in the category is in doubt.
Helmut Marko, team advisor and head of Racing Bulls, admitted that there is concern within the team about Lawson's performance. "This week there's a meeting in Milton Keynes to discuss when and how we can close the gap. Until then, it's about scoring as many points as possible... We're concerned, but it's not like we're throwing in the towel," expressed the former driver.
"We have great strength and depth in our team. Everyone in the company knows we have a bit of pace to find and you know, we have the tools, we have the people to do that. We just need to unleash it," added the Red Bull advisor in statements to Motorsport.
As mentioned earlier, one of the central topics of the meeting would be the possible replacement of Lawson by Yuki Tsunoda. The change could even happen before the Japanese Grand Prix, scheduled for next April 6.
Alpine ruled out the possibility of Franco Colapinto joining Red Bull and assured that the rumors linking him to a seat at Racing Bulls lack veracity.
"The rumors aren't true. Franco is an Alpine driver. It's unlikely (that he'll go to another team)," was the statement from a source within the French team.
Over the weekend, there were reports of alleged negotiations between Red Bull and Alpine to evaluate the option of Colapinto joining the second team of the Austrian squad (Racing Bulls) in the current Formula 1 season. These rumors stem from Liam Lawson's poor performance in the first two races of the year.
The uncertainty grew even more with the announcement of an emergency meeting by the energy drink team, where they will define the future of the New Zealand driver and his possible replacements. In this context, the team owners are considering the possibility of Tsunoda moving up to Red Bull to team up with Max Verstappen, while Colapinto could take his place at Racing Bulls, something that apparently won't happen immediately.