Turning point in Colapinto interest opens door to Red Bull for Lawson

Liam Lawson seems to be the driver best placed to climb during the 2025 Formula 1 season, after the team's interest in Franco Colapinto has cooled down. Despite signing a two-year contract extension at the start of 2024, those of Milton Keynes They seem to have finally given up on that Sergio Perez to be able to change your sad state of formas the team hints it will leave the Mexican behind after the final race of the campaign, next weekend in Abu Dhabi.

On Monday, after the grand prix, Red Bull shareholders will meet to decide what to do with the team's seemingly cursed second seat.next to Max Verstappenand which has not yet been sufficiently busy since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo at Renault for 2019.

An option appeared mid-season, with Franco Colapintowho amazed the paddock with his speed and attitude replacing Logan Sargeant in Williams. The Latin American's immediate pace, seemingly without needing an adaptation period or seeming too affected by the pressure of becoming a top sporting star in his native Argentina, has certainly ticked several boxes for what Red Bull was looking to be Verstappen's teammate.

With the two Williams seats already occupied by Alex Albon And Carlos Sainz For 2025, Red Bull has started discussions with Grove to secure Colapinto for its main team, a deal that would have included a hefty eight-figure price tag for Williams to release its in-demand driver.

But a series of poor performances in Brazil and Las Vegas, which highlighted Colapinto's inevitable inexperience, led Red Bull to reconsider whether to fork out an exorbitant sum of money for another country's junior driver. team.. They have not hesitated to look outside their own talent pool, but only if that option is a clear improvement over those available, something they have now called into question.

Motorsport.com understands that Colapinto's chances at Red Bull passed out when he suffered a 50G impact against the wall during an unnecessary crash during qualifying for the Las Vegas GPand speaking to Motorsport.com in Qatar, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko admitted the 21-year-old driver was now “not very high on the list”.

An additional reason to hire Colapinto would have been the commercial support he provides from Argentina, which would compensate for Pérez's loss of Mexico sponsorships.. However, in addition to the loss of prize money caused by the Mexican's problems, Marko admitted that the drop to third place in the World Constructors' Championship It also caused Milton Keynes staff to lose significant bonuses, hurting factory morale. Therefore, it is believed that Red Bull's decision will be based on who they believe has the most potential to make an immediate impact. and, what's more, constantly score many points.

This is why Colapinto's ups and downs discouraged Red Bull, and it's also why Lawson emerged as the leading candidate in the seat in place of his more experienced teammate, Yuki Tsunoda.

The Japanese was incredibly fast compared to his Visa CashApp RB teammates, and in qualifying he also seemed to have a slight advantage over Lawson. But even though he has clearly matured over the past two seasons and benefits from generous support from Honda, it seems that The Asian can do nothing to dispel lingering doubts about his consistency, attitude and technical ability. in order to integrate well into the pressure cooker that is Red Bull headquarters, on the front line of battle.

Lawson has impressed Red Bull more than Tsunoda in all of these key areas, as well as with his patience when forced to regress to a reserve role. after replacing the injured Daniel Ricciardo last year. And while he has yet to prove he has the speed to consistently win a race, what Red Bull needs is someone who can consistently deliver results within reasonable distance of Verstappen and help drive development. Of the options available, the New Zealander appears to be their man.

Red Bull's impending decision to tap into its own talent pool has also boosted the team leader's chances. Formula 2Isack Hadjar, to fill the remaining available seat at Racing Bulls. The Frenchman will fight with the beginner in Sauber in 2025, Gabriel Bortoleto, for the F2 title in Abu Dhabi, but It is equally important that he races this weekend with the current Formula 1 cars. Hadjar will replace Verstappen in FP1, as part of mandatory training for rookie drivers, and will also benefit from a full day of filming during qualifying practice. Tuesday.

In the declarations to Motorsport.com In Brazil, Hadjar admitted he needed to be in Abu Dhabi to find out if he would be completely ready to take the plunge, as he has only completed a few performance laps in F1, in three FP1 sessions .

But in the paddock, The 20-year-old driver is considered a Tsunoda 2.0, so he will also have a lot to prove to Red Bull if he has what it takes to be a future main team driver.. In his wake, energy drink fans will be paying close attention to the progress of 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad, as the Swedish-British will make the big jump to F2 next year after an impressive campaign as a rookie in F3.