Williams respond to Lawson rumours | Horner on Red Bull’s “luxury problem”

Red Bull junior Lawson has impressed as a stand-in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri but may miss out on a full-time seat with the team next year, with Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda appearing set to stay. 

With Logan Sargeant continuing to struggle as he battles to save his seat alongside Alex Albon, there have been suggestions that Red Bull could loan Lawson to Williams for 2024. 

Vowles admitted that the 21-year-old New Zealander has done an “impressive” job so far but refused to directly answer whether he is someone Williams are interested in. 

“So he’s been impressive in the few races he’s had here,” Vowles told Sky during FP1. 

“Obviously if you cast your mind back a bit, he and Logan were teammates back in F2. Both finishing pretty much together in the championship, so we have a direct comparison of the two of them in that environment. 

“I think what we don’t have at the moment, with different cars, different situations at the moment, is knowing how they compare between a Williams and an AlphaTauri at this stage. 

“Nevertheless, to keep his head in Singapore, he did a strong job.

“Red Bull have a number of drivers but just two seats. So it will be interesting to see where they go with that decision-making now.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Lawson has “done a tremendous job and certainly put himself firmly on the radar and cemented the feeling that we had about him.”

About Red Bull’s driver dilemma for 2024, Horner added: “We’ve got a luxury problem with three into two in that team, but there’s three great drivers and it’s a nice headache to have. 

“He will be a grand prix driver - he already is a grand prix driver - whether he has to wait a little bit for that. I think he’s demonstrating that he is a talent for the future.”

Asked whether Red Bull would consider loaning Lawson out or would prefer to keep him within their family, Horner said: “He’s in the Red Bull family. 

"I think there’s only one seat available. We’ve done that in the past when for example Carlos Sainz went on loan to the previous Renault team. 

“But I think, if he’s not sitting in a grand prix seat next year, then he’s going to have plenty on his plate with other stuff to do.”