Liam Lawson would sign now as 2027 pressure builds

Liam Lawson said ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix that it is “definitely early” to discuss his Racing Bulls future for 2027, but made clear he would commit immediately if the choice were his.

Speaking to media including RacingNews365 and PlanetF1.com on Monaco Grand Prix media day, Lawson said he is not getting drawn into long-range contract talk at the sixth round of the season. “It’s definitely early at the moment to talk about it,” he said. But he also left no doubt about his own position: “If it was my decision, I’d sign something right now for next year, but it depends on a lot of things.”

That tension matters because Lawson is trying to strengthen his case the only way he can, through results. He said his focus is on “trying to get the consistency we’ve had from the first part of the year and carry that through the rest of the year,” with Racing Bulls sitting sixth in the constructors’ standings on 21 points. Lawson has scored 16 of those.

His form has given substance to that argument. Lawson has finished seventh in China and Canada and ninth in Japan, and after the first five rounds he holds an 11-point advantage over teammate Arvid Lindblad, the only rookie on the 2026 grid.

Lawson also acknowledged he would rather avoid another long wait for clarity over his seat. He did not learn until the final week of the 2025 season that he would stay with Racing Bulls for 2026, and when asked if he would prefer not to wait until December again, he laughed: “Yeah, but it’s not my choice either!”

That lack of control is sharpened by the depth of Red Bull’s pipeline. Nikola Tsolov has emerged as the strongest internal threat for 2027, with the 19-year-old sitting third in the Formula 2 standings after winning the feature race in Australia and the sprint in Miami. He arrived at Monaco 22 points behind championship leader Gabriele Minì.

For Lawson, that leaves little room for distraction. His public message in Monaco was that contract talk can wait, but the standard required to secure his place cannot, especially with Racing Bulls relying heavily on his points and Red Bull’s next contender already moving into view.