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Lawson shares when he expects to have ‘clearer picture’ over F1 future with RB yet to confirm full 2025 line-up
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Liam Lawson has insisted that his focus is on the here and now, and extracting the maximum from each Grand Prix weekend, rather than spending time thinking about whether or not he will keep his place at RB next season.
RB are the only outfit yet to announce their full driver line-up for 2025, with Yuki Tsunoda signed up to contest a fifth successive season at Red Bull’s junior squad but the wait going on to discover who his team mate will be.
Lawson is making a strong case for the seat, having replaced Daniel Ricciardo from the start of the Americas triple-header sequence and scored points with runs to P9 at the United States and Sao Paulo Grands Prix.
Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo alongside Tsunoda at RB in-season
Asked if there’s a “steer” on his future ahead of this weekend’s round in Las Vegas, Lawson replied: “I mean, I have steer, let’s say… Obviously the expectation on us is high and the season’s not done yet.
“As much as there’s indication on what they [Red Bull and RB bosses] wanted me to do and what the future holds, I don’t have anything confirmed right now.
“For me, it’s just focusing on these races ahead. This weekend’s the most important right now, then that’ll shift to next weekend. I’ll have a clearer picture after the season.”
With that in mind, Lawson is looking forward to sampling the Las Vegas Strip Circuit in an F1 car for the first time as he tries to help RB recover lost ground in the constructors’ standings – the team bumped down to P8 after Alpine’s spectacular double podium in Brazil.
He scored points on his comeback weekend in Austin and last time out at Interlagos
“We do the normal simulator prep, and outside of that I drove a Mustang here last year for a couple of hot laps – that’s my experience of the track in real life,” the New Zealander smiled.
“The temperature this weekend is probably going to be the biggest factor – it’s very, very cold. I’m sure it’s going to be challenging, but I’m excited to be racing, to be in Vegas.”
Pushed further on RB’s chances, he said: “Honestly, we struggled here last year a lot, so that’s obviously not a great start. But at the same time we’ve made a lot of changes since then and we hopefully think we understand a lot more about how to improve the car this weekend.
“I think this sort of temperature changes things up – it makes a lot of differences. I think we’re optimistic. We’re in a very close fight for P6 and our target is to just try and score some more points this weekend with both cars.”
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