Liam Lawson news LIVE: Red Bull latest as Kiwi replaces Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen’s teammate
RB’s Liam Lawson has taken Sergio Perez’s spot alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing next season
RB’s Liam Lawson has been promoted to Red Bull and will replace the axed Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen’s teammate for the 2025 F1 season.
Red Bull called time on their four-year relationship with Perez yesterday after a difficult season in which the Mexican struggled to keep pace not only with world title-winning teammate Verstappen but also rivals from McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, finishing eighth in the drivers’ standings. It also meant Red Bull finished third in the constructors’ championship and ceded their crown to McLaren.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the past four years with Red Bull,” Perez said. “We broke records and reached remarkable milestones.”
While Perez’s future is now in doubt, with no seat currently available on the grid next season, New Zealander Lawson has been rewarded after impressing for sister team RB this year.
Follow all the latest reaction and F1 developments in the live blog below.
F1 2024 season awards:
Rising star
Ollie Bearman – A debut of dreams for the British teenager in Saudi Arabia, filling in seamlessly for Carlos Sainz to score points on his F1 debut for Ferrari.
From that moment on, his 2025 seat at Haas was virtually secured. He took his chance. It did not matter that he finished a lowly 12th in the F2 standings.
Podium places: Gabriel Bortoleto; Franco Colapinto
F1 2024 season awards:
Overtake of the year
Alex Albon, Canada – This was a spectacular manoeuvre.
Down the back straight at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Albon weaved to the outside to surge past Ricciardo, before slipping ahead of Esteban Ocon down the inside before the final chicane.
Exquisite car placement in between two cars.
Podium places: Max Verstappen, Brazil; Oscar Piastri, Azerbaijan
F1 2024 season awards:
Moment of the year
Lando Norris winning the Miami GP – This was a tough call. But Norris had been waiting for his first F1 victory for so long that, when it came, the jubilation was palpable.
It was also the first indication of McLaren’s rapid race-pace, setting up a thriller of a 2024 season.
Podium places: Lewis Hamilton wins British GP, Max Verstappen wins Brazil GP
F1 2024 season awards:
Biggest disappointment
Daniel Ricciardo – This was a close-run thing between three drivers: Ricciardo, Sergio Perez and Logan Sargeant.
Sargeant’s axing after the Dutch Grand Prix had been some time coming and, given his consistent placing at the back of the grid, perhaps it wasn’t totally surprising.
Yet Ricciardo’s inability to produce even a glimpse of his prime speed was a mighty old shame. It was no secret that Perez’s Red Bull seat was up for grabs if he could. Therefore, the Aussie shades it.
Podium places: Sergio Perez, Logan Sargeant
F1 2024 season awards:
Biggest surprise
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari – OK, a tad cheeky given it was prior to the 2024 season commencing, but nothing stunned the F1 (and sporting) world more than this transfer.
It was quite the day when Mercedes, astonishingly, did not deny reports surfacing in the Italian media that Hamilton had opted to leave his beloved Silver Arrows and end the most successful partnership in F1 history.
Inevitably, next year’s transfer was a constantly present topic in the background throughout the year. Did it impact Hamilton’s performance? Who knows. Either way, we all cannot wait to see how it unfolds.
Podium places: Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull/joining Aston Martin, Mercedes promoting Kimi Antonelli 2025
F1 2024 season awards:
Best team
McLaren – It shouldn’t be understated how monumental an achievement this was for the papaya.
After the first four races, McLaren were third in total and already 72 points off Red Bull. But from Norris’s win in Miami onwards, they managed to take the fight to the reigning world champions and surpass them, as well as thwart the late challenge from Ferrari.
Full credit to team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown for their hotshot driver lineup selection and their astute mechanical hiring, with ex-Red Bull engineer Rob Marshall playing a leading role in McLaren’s sudden surge in speed, particularly on the straights.
Podium places: Ferrari, Haas
F1 2024 season awards:
Best driver
Max Verstappen – It’s boring, I know. The world champion gets the top gong. But before November, the answer would have been Norris.
Yet the most impressive drive of Verstappen’s life in Brazil – from 17th on the grid to a win margin of 20 seconds – changed that. It virtually sealed the world title and, in the end, he claimed five more victories over the course of the season than the McLaren driver.
Four on the spin. Five in a row – in a Red Bull that no longer looks consistently quick – would put him among the greats.
Podium places: Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg
F1 2024 season awards: Best driver, biggest shock and worst race
That’s a wrap. After a record-breaking 24 races, the 2024 F1 season concluded in Abu Dhabi with Lando Norris guiding McLaren to constructors’ glory.
What a topsy-turvy, constantly evolving season it has been. From Red Bull’s dominance on the track and turmoil in the paddock at the start of the season to multiple winners and riveting racing, there has been drama at every turn.
For the first time since 2021, too, we had a genuine title race, and while Max Verstappen ultimately claimed his fourth successive world championship, Norris pushed him to the final three races.
F1 2024 season awards: Best driver, biggest shock and worst race
After a nine-month, 24-race season, The Independent selects the stars and moments that stand out
Christian Horner doesn’t regret Sergio Perez contract extension
On the decision to extend Perez’s contract over the summer, Horner said: “At the time he’d had four podiums in five races, it was a logical extension to remove speculation, of which there was already too much around the team,” explained the team principal.
“Every contract has performance clauses and criteria, it didn’t make any difference to this decision for Sergio to step away and take a sabbatical.”
On the constructor’s championship, he added: “In hindsight, McLaren did a great job. But at the end of the day, we won more races, we had more poles, we won four sprint races, more than any other team, and we won the drivers’ championship with two races to go.
“Unfortunately we had a 280-point deficit between our drivers, of course that became quite expensive in terms of the constructors’ championship.”
2025 F1 CALENDAR IN FULL:
PRE-SEASON TESTING - BAHRAIN
Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir - 26-28 February
ROUND 1 - AUSTRALIA
Albert Park, Melbourne - 14-16 March
ROUND 2 - CHINA
Shanghai International Circuit - 21-23 March
ROUND 3 - JAPAN
Suzuka International Racing Course - 4-6 April
ROUND 4 —BAHRAIN
Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir - 11-13 April
ROUND 5 - SAUDI ARABIA
Jeddah Corniche Circuit - 18-20 April
ROUND 6 - MIAMI
Miami International Autodrome, Hard Rock Stadium - 2-4 May
ROUND 7 - EMILIA ROMAGNA
Imola Circuit - 16-18 May
ROUND 8 - MONACO
Circuit de Monaco - 23-25 May
ROUND 9 - SPAIN
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - 30 May-1 June
ROUND 10 - CANADA
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal - 13-15 June
ROUND 11 - AUSTRIA
Red Bull Ring, Spielberg - 27-29 June
ROUND 12 - GREAT BRITAIN
Silverstone Circuit - 4-6 July
ROUND 13 - BELGIUM
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - 25-27 July
ROUND 14 - HUNGARY
Hungaroring, Budapest - 1-3 August
ROUND 15 - NETHERLANDS
Circuit Zandvoort - 29-31 August
ROUND 16 - ITALY
Monza Circuit - 5-7 September
ROUND 17 - AZERBAIJAN
Baku City Circuit - 19-21 September
ROUND 18 - SINGAPORE
Marina Bay Street Circuit - 3-5 October
ROUND 19 - UNITED STATES
Circuit of the Americas, Austin - 17-19 October
ROUND 20 - MEXICO
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City - 24-26 October
ROUND 21 - BRAZIL
Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo - 7-9 November
ROUND 22 - LAS VEGAS
Las Vegas Street Circuit - 20-22 November
ROUND 23 - QATAR
Lusail International Circuit, Lusail - 28-30 November
ROUND 24 - ABU DHABI
Yas Marina Circuit - 5-7 December
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