With Dr. Helmut Marko leaving the Red Bull Racing establishment, drivers might have hoped that with him would go some of the ruthlessness seen in the junior driver programme. Yet it appears not to be the case.
The programme is an elite sports discipline where drivers are judged strictly on performance from week to week. A string of poor finishes or a single bad weekend can result in a blunt phone call, demotion, or complete dismissal from the program—sometimes even mid-season.
Over the years, the program has cycled through dozens of promising young karters and junior formula drivers. While many are dropped, only a select few make it to Formula 1, and an even smaller fraction secure a seat in the senior Red Bull Racing team.
Red Bull has a history of moving drivers up to F1 very quickly—sometimes before they are fully seasoned—only to demote or drop them just as fast if they struggle to match elite benchmarks (like Max Verstappen). Drivers like Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Liam Lawson have all felt the heavy pressure of these rapid shifts.
Yet there are those who believe the programme and the extreme pressure it exerts have proved in fact that it works. It successfully birthed multiple world champions, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, who between them have won eight of the last seventeen driver championships.
The Snakes and Ladders of F1 Promotion
And so to the drivers who make it all the way to the top and a seat at Red Bull Racing, but were cut short in their prime as another candidate was considered more suitable. Pierre Gasly was promoted alongside Max Verstappen in 2019 following the departure of Daniel Ricciardo.
At the time, his treatment seemed harsh as his early-season form was poor, and come the Belgian GP, Pierre was demoted back to Toro Rosso and replaced by Alex Albon. The British-Thai driver fared better than his French counterpart,surviving to the end of the following year before being ditched for new recruit Sergio Pérez.
Both Gasly and Albon are respected midfield drivers now earning a living in one of the most ruthless sports in the world.Next up to face the snakes and ladders of Red Bull’s driver promotion game was New Zealander Liam Lawson.
Lawson had an interesting junior career, given he won just one title—that of the Toyota Racing Series, a single-seater championship based in New Zealand. He was 9th and 3rd in his two seasons in F2 before becoming the Red Bull sister team reserve driver for 2023.
And he did not have to wait long to get a shot at driving an F1 car, as Daniel Ricciardo broke his wrist in Zandvoort,leaving Lawson as his stand-in for five race weekends. Liam caught the eye of a number of senior paddock individuals,although with Ricciardo fit and well, he returned to his reserve driver role for the US Grand Prix weekend.
The following year, following a string of lackluster performances ending in Singapore, Daniel Ricciardo—once the golden boy of Red Bull—was sacked from the sister team. Lawson was promoted for the final six race weekends of the year, which went well.
Promotion, Pressure, and the Red Bull Seat
Sergio Pérez was sacked by Red Bull, and for some inexplicable reason—which must have included Honda politics—instead of promoting experienced Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda alongside Max Verstappen, Red Bull decided it was Liam Lawson who should fill the seat.
The New Zealander had just 11 Grand Prix weekends under his belt and was expected to improve on Red Bull’s results as Pérez had become anonymous. Even Max Verstappen had way longer in F1 before being promoted to the senior race team.
At the season opener in Australia, Liam qualified eighteenth before crashing out of the race in difficult conditions. He went on to qualify last for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix in China, although he finished fourteenth and twelfth. Red Bull decided to return him to the sister team and promote Yuki Tsunoda, who fared little better than Pérez.
Lawson was beaten by his rookie teammate in the drivers’ championship by 51 points to 38. Isack Hadjar was promoted to Red Bull this year, whilst the Racing Bulls, recruiting another rookie in Arvid Lindblad, retained Lawson as the experienced driver for the team.
Lawson’s 2026 Triumph and Paddock Rumours
And 2026 has been a triumph for Lawson. He is the best of the drivers outside the top four teams and sits just 33 points behind Isack Hadjar of Red Bull and a whopping 54 points ahead of Pierre Gasly in P10.
Lawson stepped in for Hadjar, who broke his wrist during the summer break, and his three outings alongside Verstappen were deemed a success, with a best-placed finish of P6 in the Spanish Grand Prix. Liam is the primary reason that the Racing Bulls will almost certainly take P5 in the constructors’ championship, but for some unknown reason, he is yet to be confirmed as an RB driver for 2027.
The lack of a decision on their driver lineup for next year has made the Racing Bulls the talk of the paddock across the last triple header. Even Sky F1’s veteran pit lane reporter was seen almost mocking the team principal Alan Permane in his notebook feature in Brazil, as Kravitz announced loudly and within earshot: “They can’t sack him now.”
Lawson has now scored 30 points across the last five race weekends, yet his team boss claims the decision on the Racing Bulls’ lineup will be announced “in the coming weeks.” Paddock reports suggested Lawson was being considered as a replacement for Alex Albon at Williams for 2027, but he has now denied the rumours, according to ESPN’s Nate Saunders, stating there “hadn’t been any talks” about the Kiwi making the move to Williams.
The Final Decision Looming
There were reports that the man who got rid of Christian Horner, Oliver Mintzlaff, would be making the driver decision,but this weekend that was denied by the team’s CEO Peter Bayer, who claimed the decision was Alan Permane’s alone.
Bayer did acknowledge that Lawson has more than proved himself this season, yet defended the Red Bull sister team’s responsibility to introduce rookie junior drivers into F1. The decision is clearly between Nikola Tsolov—who is fighting Rafael Câmara for the 2026 F2 title—and Liam Lawson. It appears Arvid Lindblad is secure.
Despite Dr. Helmut Marko being well and truly retired, the culture of the Red Bull junior driver programme remains.Dropping Lawson would be a jaw-dropping move and probably the most inexplicable since Red Bull began training and promoting junior drivers more than 20 years ago.
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
