Lindblad and Lawson to continue at Racing Bulls

Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson will continue as the drivers for Red Bull's second team Racing Bulls in 2027.Red Bull had been deciding whether to promote Bulgarian Formula 2 front-runner Nikola Tsolov in place of Lawson but have decided to spend a second season assessing their current line-up.Team principal Alan Permane said: "I have no doubt that this is the best driver line-up for us, bringing a strong combination of experience and ambition."Both have demonstrated their ability and potential throughout the season, and we've seen the progress they've made, both individually and as a pairing."The decision to retain both marks a break from the previous Red Bull philosophy of fast-tracking drivers through the programme.Racing Bulls essentially exists to find potential drivers for the main Red Bull team, so the company has tended to jettison drivers who have been given a chance and not succeeded.That's why Lawson, 24, was considered vulnerable. He was promoted to Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen for the 2025 season only to be demoted after just two races in which he had struggled.The New Zealander has since sought to rebuild his career and was much more convincing when he was re-promoted to Red Bull for the Dutch, Italian and Spanish Grands Prix this year while regular driver Isack Hadjar was recovering from a broken wrist.Keeping Lawson on board for 2027 gives Red Bull a known-quality benchmark with which to continue their assessment of Lindblad, who made his debut this season.The 19-year-old Briton has excelled at times in his rookie year but on average has been a little behind Lawson, who has out-qualified him 13 times to nine and has scored more than twice as many points.Lawson said: "We've had a brilliant season together and the team has worked very hard to produce a fast car, which I've loved driving."It feels great to be part of a historic season for the team as we continue our fight for fifth place in the constructors' championship."I'm looking forward to carrying this moment forward with Arvid through to 2027; we're building something super positive and I'm excited by what we can achieve together."Lindblad added: "It's been a truly special year, full of new experiences and learnings since the very first pre-season test. I'd like to thank everyone for their trust and support."I can't wait to get started next year, building on everything I've learned during my rookie season."The news release announcing the pairing made no mention of Tsolov, who is expected to be retained by Red Bull in some form of reserve role in which he gains experience through work in the simulator and with testing previous cars.