Lawson is ninth in the drivers’ championship with 83 points, more than double what rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad has managed, and he came out of a messy Mexico weekend with another points finish. On paper, that is a solid audition. In practice, his 2027 seat is still open.
Bayer’s intervention came as speculation about Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov taking a Racing Bulls seat intensified following Tsolov’s first FP1 outing of the year at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
The CEO told RacingNews365 that the New Zealander had met the brief.
“He has certainly done everything to prove himself. That’s also the general consensus in the paddock,” Bayer said.
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That quote is the headline, but the sentence that followed it is where the endorsement loses some of its weight. Bayer reminded reporters that Racing Bulls exists to funnel drivers into Red Bull’s senior team, pointing to the 22 drivers the programme has already pushed into Formula 1, with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen among them.
Bayer also made clear the decision is not his to announce. He told the outlet that the lineup call sits with Permane, who took over as team principal earlier this year, and that Permane would communicate it when he was ready.
The Mexico backdrop that keeps the question open
The CEO’s words landed in a story that had already turned prickly. Lawson collided with Verstappen in the second practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix on 30 October, picking up a one-place grid penalty alongside the four-time champion for what the FIA described as an “unacceptable” clash, RaceFans reported. Verstappen said afterwards that Lawson needed to “act a little bit smarter”.
Lawson went to Verstappen’s motorhome to apologise the next day, calling the whole episode “not ideal” in comments to Motorsport Week.
That did not stop him recovering to seventh at the chequered flag, extending his run as the leading driver outside the top four constructors. He now sits 31 points clear of Pierre Gasly in that unofficial “best of the rest” count.
The Tsolov factor
Tsolov’s FP1 appearance in Mexico, where he finished 12th on the timesheets in a car he had not driven before, is the reason the Bayer intervention was necessary in the first place.
“Nikola’s stint on Friday was really great. It was his first time in this car, and he integrated perfectly into the team,” Bayer told RacingNews365.
Bayer had already dismissed Tsolov-to-Racing Bulls chatter in July as “rumours”, but the paddock reads the FP1 outing as a late-season audition. The Bulgarian still needs more mileage to secure a super licence, which was Bayer’s own caveat earlier in the year.
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Racing Bulls has not set a public deadline for its 2027 lineup announcement. Lawson’s next chance to firm up his case is at the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos this weekend.
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