Marko plays a key role in selecting drivers for both Red Bull Racing and RB through his position in charge of the Red Bull junior driver programme.

Lawson is currently the headline name in that programme and impatiently sits on the sidelines waiting for his opportunity.

He performed well as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo for five races last year but has been sidelined since the Australian returned from injury.

However, there is interest in promoting the New Zealander back into a race drive and RB is working to create what chances it can to get him in F1 machinery.

A slow start to the year has left Ricciardo under pressure with unfounded speculation that he could be dumped for the Miami Grand Prix.

Even by Red Bull standards, that would be a harsh decision, one that has been refuted by all involved.

However, the 34-year-old is not performing at a level that would see him achieve his stated ambition; to return to a Red Bull Racing drive in future.

“The demand on Daniel was that he had to be clearly faster than Yuki [Tsunoda] if he wanted to have any hope of the Red Bull seat,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

“That has not been the case so far, even if sometimes it has been close. We will see how that situation develops.”

Should Ricciardo fail to fire, Lawson is a logical alternative.

The 22-year-old has strong support from Marko but is free to look outside the Red Bull programme if he isn’t promoted for 2025.

With that in mind, there is interest in getting the Kiwi in a car this year to assess his potential ahead of next season.

“In Lawson, we have a strong reserve driver who is contractually entitled to drive for another team if he does not get a seat with us in 2025,” Marko revealed.

“In that respect, of course it would be nice for us if we could see him in Formula 1 this year. That way we would get an even clearer picture.

“But it’s a complex subject, so we have to wait and see how things progress.”