The team has kept both race drivers after Red Bull considered promoting junior driver Nikola Tsolov in Liam Lawson’s place. The decision gives the pairing another season together.
Racing Bulls have confirmed that Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad will remain their Formula 1 race drivers in 2027. Red Bull had considered promoting its Bulgarian junior driver Nikola Tsolov in place of Lawson, but will instead keep the current pairing for a second season.
Racing Bulls are Red Bull’s second team and help identify potential drivers for the main team. BBC Formula 1 described the decision as a departure from Red Bull’s previous approach of moving drivers through its program quickly and replacing those who did not succeed.
Team principal Alan Permane said the drivers combine experience and ambition, and that both have shown ability and progress individually and together. He said the pairing gives Racing Bulls a foundation for further progress in 2027. Lawson said he looked forward to carrying their momentum into 2027, while Lindblad said he wanted to build on what he learned in his rookie season.
Lawson is ninth in the drivers' championship, while Lindblad, a 19-year-old Briton, is in his first Formula 1 season. BBC says retaining Lawson gives Red Bull a known benchmark for continuing to assess Lindblad. Lawson has qualified ahead of Lindblad 13–9; The Race says Lindblad has contributed 35% of Racing Bulls' points.
The team is fifth in the constructors' championship, which ranks teams by their drivers' results, with 114 points, 45 ahead of Alpine. Lawson said the fight for fifth remains ongoing.
Lawson, a New Zealander, was promoted to the main Red Bull team for 2025 but returned to Racing Bulls after 2 difficult races. In 2026, he drove for Red Bull again at the Dutch, Italian and Spanish Grands Prix while regular driver Isack Hadjar recovered from a broken wrist. BBC assessed his performances as much more convincing than in his earlier stint.
Formula 1 told the Italian circuit on 10 November to stand down while retaining plans for Qatar on 27–29 November and Abu Dhabi on 4–6 December; it says it could still cancel the races if conditions deteriorate.
Tsolov has won 6 races in his first Formula 2 season and is 7 points behind Rafael Camara in the title race. He also replaced Lawson in a practice session for rookies in Mexico, where he lapped within two-tenths of a second of Lindblad. The Race assessed his performance there as strengthening his case for promotion.
Racing Bulls' announcement did not address Tsolov’s future. BBC expects him to remain with Red Bull in some form of reserve role, including simulator work and testing older cars. The Race considers a reserve role with more testing and practice likely, and says he has also been linked with Japan’s Super Formula.
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