The New Zealander heads into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix enjoying the strongest run of his Formula 1 career, having scored points in five of the opening seven rounds of the season.
He sits 10th in the drivers’ championship, just six points behind former Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull car.
Despite that form, a report from Spanish outlet SoyMotor this week suggested F2 driver Nikola Tsolov had been guaranteed a seat at one of Red Bull’s two F1 teams next season.
That has placed Lawson’s future back under the spotlight, with the 24-year-old among the drivers listed as potentially being affected by any reshuffle.
Asked ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix whether discussions had taken place over his future, Lawson insisted it was too soon to focus on 2027.
“It’s very early days,” he replied.
Buy tickets
“It’s been a very good season so far. We’ve enjoyed a lot, obviously a lot to learn with these cars, and we’re doing that every single weekend, and we’re in a good place, but obviously trying to keep that momentum going.
“It’s very early days for those kinds of conversations, but I’m honestly very happy, and we’re all pretty happy.”
Lawson’s response comes amid a significant turnaround from the early stages of last season, when he was dropped by Red Bull after just two rounds before rebuilding his year with Racing Bulls.
He scored a breakthrough sixth place at the Red Bull Ring in 2025, a result that helped re-establish his confidence after a difficult start to life as a full-time F1 driver.
His 2026 campaign has since reinforced his place among the midfield’s most consistent performers, with Racing Bulls also sitting sixth in the constructors’ championship.
“I feel I’m in a good place, I feel like I’ve learned a lot over the last 12 months,” Lawson said about his season so far.
“Things are working well at the moment.”
The Austrian Grand Prix also arrives at a circuit where Racing Bulls is expected to be competitive, with the short Red Bull Ring layout often compressing the midfield.
Lawson said execution would be critical on a weekend where small margins could again decide the lower end of the points.
“Here it is always very, very close so the way we execute through the weekend is very important,” Lawson said.
Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said he also believed the team has reason to be optimistic after recent upgrades to the VCARB 03.
“The VCARB 03, with its latest updates, has proved to work well on a variety of circuit types and we head to Austria with confidence knowing that if we put a strong weekend together we can come away with more points,” Permane said.
However, Lawson admitted Racing Bulls still needs to find a better balance between its qualifying pace and race performance.
“We have been in a good place in qualifying and seem to have a very good car, but trying to replicate that in the race has been a little bit more difficult for us,” Lawson said.
Recent races have highlighted that trend, with Lawson qualifying strongly but facing pressure from rivals whose cars have proved more consistent over longer runs.
Lawson said he did not believe the issue pointed to a major weakness in the car and instead suggested the team needed to keep refining the car in other areas.
“It’s something we’re working through,” he said.
“In the race, it’s obviously a very different speed you’re driving to qualifying, and I think it’s something we’re chasing, trying to sort of affect our balance.
“So, I’m sure it’s little things, it’s nothing big.
“Obviously, the speed of the car is there, so we definitely have a way of executing it; we just need to keep focusing on trimming that race car and making it stronger.”
2026 F1 Austrian Grand Prix – Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more
Discussion about this post