ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Williams has enquired with Red Bull about the possibility of loaning Liam Lawson as Logan Sargeant’s replacement, starting at next week’s Italian Grand Prix.
Sources confirmed to ESPN that Williams boss James Vowles visited Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner after qualifying on Saturday to discuss Lawson’s availability.
Earlier that day, Sargeant had crashed out of final practice in a Williams car featuring numerous upgraded parts.
Crashes have become a common theme of Sargeant’s season; the American driver is set to be replaced by Carlos Sainz next year.
But patience with Sargeant is understood to be reaching a critical point, and Vowles has looked into short-term options.
Lawson, who is Red Bull’s reserve driver, impressed as Daniel Ricciardo’s stand-in at three events in 2023 and is in line to race for the company’s junior team next year.
Speaking after the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, Horner said he is open to the idea of Lawson racing for Vowles.
“It depends on which terms and if we needed him back that we could have him back quite quickly,” Horner said. “But we’d certainly … if they needed a driver next weekend, we’d be open to that. But that’s a Williams question rather than one for us.”
Sources have said a deal to replace Sargeant for Monza is still 50/50 because of the short turnaround between the race in the Netherlands and the race in Italy.
Red Bull is also wary of the risks of dropping Lawson in a Williams at the two following street races in Baku and Singapore.
Contractually, Red Bull must decide on Lawson’s 2025 situation before Sept. 15. If he has not secured a race seat with either of its teams by then, the New Zealander is free to pursue other opportunities.
Lawson has been desperate to secure an F1 race seat of any kind, having sat on the sidelines all year.
He appears to be in frame to replace Ricciardo at Red Bull next year, but RB’s entire driver situation is increasingly hard to read given the poor form of Sergio Perez on the lead team.
Source: www.espn.com