Liam Lawson news LIVE: Red Bull latest as Kiwi replaces Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen’s teammate

Valtteri Bottas has returned to Mercedes as the team’s F1 reserve driver in 2025.

Sauber dropped the Finnish driver at the end of the 2024 season after three years together but Bottas will rejoin the Silver Arrows - where he raced from 2017-2021 and claimed five constructors’ titles in a row - as backup to George Russell and Kimi Antonelli next year.

A spot has opened up as a reserve at Mercedes after Mick Schumacher left the team following the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Full story:

Liam Lawson will replace Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull in 2025.

New Zealand driver Lawson, 22, has raced only 11 times in Formula One – five in 2023 and six in 2024 – but has been handed the opportunity of a lifetime after impressing in the closing races of this season. He replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB in September and will fill in for Perez, who parted ways with Red Bull on Wednesday.

Lawson has been promoted by Christian Horner ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who will race for the sister team Racing Bulls for the fifth successive year in 2025.

Red Bull Racing have confirmed that Liam Lawson will replace Sergio Perez for the 2025 season and partner Max Verstappen. The released a statement which reads:

“Oracle Red Bull Racing is pleased to announce that Liam Lawson will complete the Tema’s driver line-up for the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship, moving across from Visa Cash App Racing Bulls to partner four-time World Champion Max Verstappen.

“New Zealand native Liam joined the Red Bull Junior Programme in 2019 and after multiple junior formula successes made his Formula One debut with Scuderia AlphaTauri at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo. He scored his first championship points in just his second outing at the Singapore GP and completed five races in all for the team. After taking up his Reserve Driver role with both teams at the start of 2024, Liam returned to Grand Prix racing with Visa Cash App Racing Bulls with a points-scoring finish at this year’s United States Grand Prix. Now, after completing the season with VCARB the 22-year-old takes the next step in his career with a seat a Oracle Red Bull Racing.”

A reminder of the news yesterday that Mexican driver Sergio Perez has left Red Bull after reaching an agreement with the Formula One team to part ways with immediate effect, both announced on Wednesday.

Perez, who has won six Grands Prix across 14 seasons, joined the Milton Keynes outfit in 2021. He helped them claim the Constructors’ Championship title in 2022 and 2023 and was the runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship last year.

The 34-year-old signed a new deal with Red Bull until 2026 earlier this year, but his place as Max Verstappen’s teammate came under intense scrutiny.

He finished eighth in the Drivers’ Championship this season, 285 points behind Verstappen, who secured his fourth successive drivers’ title and won nine races, while Perez was the only driver from the top four teams without a win this year.

Christian Horner has revealed what Sergio Perez’s next move will be after Red Bull confirmed his exit following a disastrous 2024 F1 season.

The Mexican endured a torrid run of results this year as he finished eighth in the drivers’ standings – a mammoth 285 points behind teammate and champion Max Verstappen.

The 34-year-old’s sub-par performances ultimately cost Red Bull the constructors’ title as McLaren pipped Ferrari to the crown in the final race of the season, thanks to Lando Norris’s win in Abu Dhabi.

And Red Bull boss Horner has now explained what Perez will do ahead of the 2025 campaign, with no other seat lined up.

Valtteri Bottas has returned to Mercedes as the team’s reserve driver in 2025.

Sauber dropped the Finnish driver at the end of the 2024 season after three years together but Bottas will rejoin the Silver Arrows - where he raced from 2017-2021 - as backup to George Russell and Kimi Antonelli next year.

Bottas said: “I’m happy to finally answer the question I’ve posed over the past month. Returning home to the Mercedes family as Third Driver for 2025 is what’s next and I couldn’t be more pleased.”

“I would like to thank Checo for all he has done for Oracle Red Bull Racing over the past four seasons,” Team Principal Christian Horner said.

“From the moment he joined in 2021 he proved himself to be an extraordinary team player, helping us to two Constructors’ titles and to our first 1-2 finish in the Drivers’ championship.

“His five wins, all on street circuits, were also a spectacular mark of his determination to always push to the limit. While Checo will not race for the team next season, he will always be an extremely popular Team member and a treasured part of our history. Thank you, Checo.”

Cadillac have confirmed a “multi-year agreement” with Ferrari to supply the American team’s power units and gearboxes from 2026.

F1 rejected Andretti’s bid in partnership with GM earlier this year but with former boss Michael Andretti out of the picture, a GM entry led by businessman Dan Towriss – the majority shareholder of Andretti Global – is set to join for the season after next.

General Motors-owned Cadillac announced last week that former Marussia boss Graeme Lowdon will be their team principal when they join F1 in 2026

Worst race

Bahrain Grand Prix – For all the soap-opera off the track at the season-opener in Bahrain, it was business as usual for Red Bull on the tarmac. A one-two finish – and a dud of a race.

To much relief, it did not set the tone for the rest of the year.

On the podium: Japan, Monaco

Best race

Brazilian Grand Prix – A championship-deciding, drama-inducing weekend in Sao Paulo.

Heavy rain meant we had qualifying on Sunday morning and, such is the grid that formed, it looked set to result in a massive points swing in Norris’s favour. There were also five crashes in helter-skelter qualifying minutes.

But the race proved to be a masterclass in wet-weather driving from Verstappen. While others slipped and slid across the racetrack and into the walls, the Dutchman was the epitome of perfection.

Podium places: British Grand Prix; Austrian Grand Prix