Kiwi driver Liam Lawson's future in Formula 1 is safe for another season, with it being confirmed he will line up once again with Racing Bulls in 2026.
Lawson was one of the only drivers without a confirmed place for next year, as Red Bull left it late to confirm its teams for the senior Red Bull team and its junior Racing Bulls outfit.
He will race alongside Arvid Lindblad, who has been promoted from Formula 2, while Isack Hadjar will move to the Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen after a solid rookie season.
Current Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda has missed out entirely, but would stay with the team as a reserve driver.
Lawson said he was "really looking forward to racing with VCARB in 2026".
"It's an opportunity I'll continue to be grateful for as we enter a year of change in F1.
"I'm ready to get to work with the team as we prepare for the challenging season ahead. It's going to be an exciting year and I can't wait to kick it off with my first pre-season with the team."
Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane congratulated Isack, and said Lawson had shown "impressive performance and professionalism throughout this year".
"He has excelled when conditions have been at their hardest and we look forward to building on this in 2026, while Arvid’s rapid progression marks him as one of the standout young talents in the sport," Permane said.
It's been a turbulent first full-time season for the young Kiwi, who started as world champion Verstappen's teammate in the Red Bull senior team. He was demoted back to Racing Bulls after just two races, having qualified last, crashed in one and failed to score points in the other.
He fared much better with Racing Bulls and appeared to get more of what he wanted out of the car.
Lawson scored his best-ever F1 finish of fifth in Azerbaijan and a solid sixth in Austria.
Going into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Lawson sits in 14th in the standings with 38 points.
Tsunoda, who replaced Lawson at Red Bull, lost many of the consistent results from previous seasons once he stepped into the Red Bull, struggling to get out of Q3 for most races. He currently sits one place behind Lawson in 15th with 33 points.
Lawson's current teammate, Hadjar, has had a strong rookie season, pulling together numerous points-scoring finishes and a third-place at the Dutch Grand Prix. He sits in 10th on 51 points.
Lawson's soon-to-be teammate Lindblad is currently sixth in the Formula 2 championship standings.
He has a connection to New Zealand, having won the 2025 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship here earlier this year. He finished third at the New Zealand Grand Prix.
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