Horner admits Red Bull could ‘rent out’ Lawson for 2025 as he stresses ‘nothing is fixed’

Christian Horner has shared another update on Liam Lawson’s future, stating that Red Bull’s reserve driver could be loaned to another team should there be no space within their own racing family in 2025.

Lawson impressed across a five-event run in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo at the then-named AlphaTauri team (now known as RB) last year, including a standout run to Q3 and a points finish at the Singapore Grand Prix.

READ MORE: ‘If I get the results, I stay in the family’ – Ricciardo’s F1 future ‘up to me’ as he offers verdict on potential Lawson promotion

However, the New Zealander missed out on a full-time seat for 2024 and has instead spent the season on the sidelines, attending races as a reserve, carrying out simulator work and completing occasional real-life tests.

As it stands, Red Bull have multi-year contracts in place with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the senior outfit, but while Yuki Tsunoda has signed to continue for sister squad RB, the futures of incumbent Ricciardo and youngster Lawson are yet to be settled.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, Horner was asked about comments recently attributed to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko in the Austrian media, which implied that Lawson would race for one of the company’s two teams next year.

BARRETTO: It’s Lawson vs Ricciardo for the second RB seat in 2025 – but is there a way to keep them both happy?

“A drive,” Horner stressed in an interview with Sky Sports F1. “Quite clearly, he said he’ll have a drive within F1 next year.”

Pushed on the situation, the Red Bull Team Principal added: “We could rent him out. We could do… Nothing is fixed.”

The only teams outside RB yet to announce their full driver line-ups for 2025 are Kick Sauber and Mercedes, with the latter being tipped to promote protégé and F2 racer Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.

“If we don’t take up the option on Liam then he is a free driver for 2025, so we’ve got specific time periods within drivers’ contracts where that becomes prevalent,” Horner continued.

READ MORE: Tsunoda calls possibility of Lawson being handed Red Bull drive ‘weird’ as he says he deserves seat alongside Verstappen

“I checked with Helmut, his comment earlier, and he said, ‘No, I didn’t say which car, I said ‘a’ drive’.”

Lawson is once again present in Red Bull colours in Zandvoort this weekend, with one year having passed since the start of his sequence of stand-in races when Ricciardo broke his hand during a practice crash.