New Zealand driver Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls. Photo: FLORENT GOODEN / PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson has hinted that his Formula 1 future may not be with Red Bull.
The 23-year-old, who has had a rocky career since joining F1, has indicated that he may have to go elsewhere to realise his dream of becoming a world champion.
He filled in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo for five races in 2023 in the AlphaTauri and then replaced the Australian for the last six races of the season in what became the RB team.
He started 2025 in the Red Bull seat alongside world champion Max Verstappen before being dropped to Racing Bulls after two races and replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.
He sits 15th in the Drivers' Championship with 20 points.
Asked about a possible return to the top team, Lawson suggested that his future may lie elsewhere.
"I think it's tough,'' Lawson told Sky F1.
"As much as I wanted to be a Red Bull Racing driver - that's what I worked towards from becoming a Red Bull junior - the dream I've had since I was five years old has been world champion, has been winning in Formula 1 and reaching the top of the sport.
"And I think that's more or less where my dream sits, where my goal is - trying to become the best. That's what we're all working towards."
"And I think where I do that is not so clear as much as I thought it was.
"So I think doing it over again, there's probably things, yes, that maybe you can do differently.
"You always learn things afterwards, you always look back and, in hindsight, there's always things you can do better."
He first joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2019.
Lawson also commented on Tsunoda's season in Red Bull compared to his brief stint in the top car.
Tsunoda is 19th in the standings with 12 points having picked up just two points in his last eight races.
"I think I look back and think that maybe I was naive to think that I would be given the time to adapt to it, because I think that was really the approach going in," he told Sky F1.
"It's really tough. I definitely feel sympathy for a driver that's struggling in that position, because it's a very, very tough sport and it's never nice to see somebody struggling in an environment.
"But I think it's hard for me to relate because I didn't even get to a track that I'd driven before."
Round 16 is the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this weekend.
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