Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Jenson Button has backed Liam Lawson to keep his Formula 1 seat, arguing that his consistency makes him a stronger option than potential replacement Nikola Tsolov if the team’s priority is scoring points.
Lawson has enjoyed the best season of his career and is ninth in the standings with 83 points, convincingly making him 'best of the rest' behind the big four teams. Despite this, Lawson's future past this season has not been confirmed, with Red Bull junior driver Nikola Tsolov also in the race for the seat at Racing Bulls.
Speaking on Sky Sports, 2009 world champion Button acknowledged Tsolov's impressive Formula 2 campaign, but questioned whether the Bulgarian youngster would offer the same level of consistency as Lawson.
Button acknowledged Tsolov’s impressive Formula 2 campaign, but questioned whether the youngster could offer the same consistency as Lawson.
“It’s such a difficult one for the team to call,” said Button. “They obviously have the junior Tsolov coming through in F2, second in the championship, doing an amazing job. But he’s also had inconsistencies through his years. He’s had moments of brilliance, but then he’s had other races where it’s not quite been there for him.”
ADVERTISEMENT
He added: “Maybe the team are excited about getting young new talent in the team, but I think Liam’s job this year has been really good. He’s been very consistent. They know what they’re getting with Liam, whereas with Tsolov, they don’t. So maybe they’re excited about that. I don’t know. But if they’re there to score points at the moment, I would say Liam’s your guy.”
Lawson not sure what to say on F1 future
After a difficult Friday and Saturday, Lawson bounced back in style with a great showing during Sunday's Mexico GP. He finished seventh after starting from the back of the grid, after first getting a one-place penalty for contact with Max Verstappen in FP2, before a technical breach demoted him from ninth after qualifying on Saturday.
It was the latest strong performance by the New Zealander this season, who has shone for the Racing Bulls outfit, after a difficult 2025 in which he had been dropped by Red Bull early into the season.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Lawson admitted his F1 future is uncertain. He said: "I'm trying my best, every weekend trying to maximize. Today I gave it everything. But there's definitely no assurance at the moment. It's a tough sport. So, right now I don't know what else to say, really."
ADVERTISEMENT
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google