劳森凭表现扭转小红牛风向
有报道称利亚姆·劳森将留在小红牛，这位新西兰车手近期的顽强表现似乎将为他赢得回报。他在美国三连赛中先后于奥斯汀获得第九，并在墨西哥和巴西连续两站获得第七。
小红牛的风向正重新摆向无可争议的利亚姆·劳森
在有报道称利亚姆·劳森将留在小红牛之际，这位新西兰车手似乎将因其顽强表现获得回报
当工作保障稀缺时，F1车手只有一个解决办法：好到让人无法忽视你。
说来容易做来难，但这似乎正是利亚姆·劳森在近期美国三连赛中为未来而战时铭记于心的。作为小红牛升至车队积分榜第五的重要一员——这将是这支英意车队的历史最佳成绩——劳森在奥斯汀获得第九，随后在墨西哥和巴西连续两站获得第七。
在挑战者尼古拉·措洛夫于墨西哥站第一节练习赛表现强劲地完成首秀，以及劳森不幸与红牛中坚马克斯·维斯塔潘发生摩擦之后，种种迹象如今表明，形势的钟摆已重新摆回有利于劳森的一侧，预计下周拉斯维加斯大奖赛周末将作出决定。据《The Race》报道（Motorsport.com 认为该报道准确），劳森现在最终确定留队，而措洛夫将于 2027 年作为储备车手加入。消息人士表示，最终决定已接近敲定，但尚未签署。
为自己的未来而驾驶让劳森精疲力竭，即便对这位 24 岁的车手来说这并非新情况。自从 2023 年他作为受伤的丹尼尔·里卡多的替补到来以来，劳森实际上一直在为自己的席位而战，先是作为旁观者，随后作为里卡多的全职替代者，而在下一个比赛周末之后几乎没有任何工作保障。
在过去的三连赛期间，这一切达到了顶点，小红牛以及更广泛的红牛组织一直在推迟在劳森和措洛夫之间作出最终决定。
如果小红牛是一支独立车队，那么保留劳森和阿维德·林德布拉德的决定本会毫无悬念。新秀林德布拉德仍被视为未来红牛车队的潜在人选。而尽管那扇窗口对劳森来说似乎已经开启又关闭，他仍已累积 89 分，是前四名车队之外得分最高的车手。
不过，由于小红牛车队（小红牛）的任务是为红牛车队培养年轻车手，据了解，红牛奥地利母公司对F2领跑者措洛夫（Tsolov）的前景尤为兴奋。然而，留下劳森的决定未必会与小红牛车队的目标相悖，因为另一辆车上拥有如此可靠的基准，对衡量林德布拉德今年的表现同样有帮助。与此同时，19岁的措洛夫仍将从一整年的储备车手经历中受益，其中包括更多第一节自由练习（FP1）、私人测试和模拟器工作。
奥地利方面还明确要求小红牛车队在身份认同和竞技表现两方面都要自立自强，因此像车队领队艾伦·珀曼（Alan Permane）这样一位彻头彻尾的F1老将，才会热衷于最大化赛车性能并选择留下劳森。
周五在圣保罗被追问这一话题时，珀曼表示：“主要因素一如既往是节奏和速度。这是我们最先关注的东西。但我们不只是一支为参赛而存在的车队。我们在这里是为了培养年轻人才，所以必须关注这一点。而这并不一定意味着我们只是不断地让年轻人才轮流坐进赛车。我们或许也需要一些经验来衡衡量这些人才。”
对利亚姆·劳森来说，这个凶险的巴西周末是他最出色的表现之一。
最清楚地暗示各利益相关方之间的意见分歧才是真正阻碍决定的人，正是劳森本人。“我觉得艾伦一直非常支持我，我非常感激这一点，”他说。“今年我很享受与他以及车队紧密合作。显然，这是一个庞大的组织，所以……”
佩尔曼最近刚签下一份新合同，任期至2031年，担任小红牛（小红牛）车队领队兼联席首席执行官，因此他的意见显然很有分量。而且按理说，佩尔曼在做出承诺之前，一直希望获得关于自己在决策中份额的某些保证。
“艾伦做得非常出色，车队取得的进步直接反映了他的经验、投入和竞争心态，”佩尔曼的老板、红牛企业项目与投资首席执行官奥利弗·明茨拉夫表示。“他带来了清晰、沉稳，以及对F1所需表现的深刻理解，同时营造了一个让人们能够持续发挥最佳水平的环境。”
与此同时，劳森和车队的粉丝们一直在车队的社交媒体渠道上大量留言，敦促其与这位新西兰人续约。“我感谢所有支持。过去几周我看到了。说实话，看到这些真的很暖心。
小红牛车队（小红牛）将以第五名完赛，创下其车队历史最佳制造商锦标赛成绩。
在最关键的时刻，巴西站或许是劳森迄今最出色的一个周末。在险恶的条件下，劳森在排位赛中取得第五名，由于乔治·拉塞尔和夏尔·勒克莱尔被罚退，他正赛从第三位发车。
雨中，他在起步时超越迈凯伦的兰多·诺里斯升至第二，但当车手们让半雨胎重新进入正确的工作窗口后，他又回落到自然位置。劳森奋力拼搏，在赛道上以第八名完赛，在勒克莱尔因最后几圈强行超越被处罚后，他升至第七名。
佩尔曼显然理解过去几周和几个月对这位2026赛季F1表现突出者之一有多艰难，但表示车队已接近目标。
“我明白这对我们的车手来说很令人沮丧，”他补充道。“我明白这对其他所有人来说也很令人沮丧，但我们希望把事情做对，而且我们一定会做对。我相信，当我们在未来几周内宣布时，大家都会满意的……”
英文原文
How the Racing Bulls pendulum is swinging back towards undeniable Liam Lawson
Amid reports of Liam Lawson staying put at Racing Bulls, the New Zealander appears set to be rewarded for his tenacity
When job security is in short supply, there's one solution for an F1 driver. Be so good they can't ignore you.
That's easier said than done, but it certainly seems to be what Liam Lawson has taken to heart as he battled for his future over the recent American triple-header. Having been an integral part of Racing Bulls' rise to fifth in the constructors' championship, which will be the Anglo-Italian team's best-ever result, Lawson took ninth in Austin before bagging a pair of seventh-place finishes in Mexico and Brazil.
Following his challenger Nikola Tsolov's strong FP1 debut in Mexico, and Lawson's unfortunate run-in with Red Bull's stalwart Max Verstappen, signs are now pointing towards the pendulum having swung back in Lawson's favour with a decision expected over the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend next week. A report from The Race, which Motorsport.com understands is accurate, says Lawson is now set to stay put after all with Tsolov coming on board as a reserve in 2027. Sources have indicated a final decision is close but not signed off yet.
Driving for his future has been exhausting for Lawson, even if it's not a new situation for the 24-year-old. Ever since he arrived as a deputy for the injured Daniel Ricciardo in 2023, Lawson has effectively been fighting for his seat, first from the sidelines and then as Ricciardo's full-time replacement with little to no job security beyond the next race weekend.
It all came to a head over the past triple-header as Racing Bulls and the wider Red Bull organisation kept delaying a final call between Lawson and Tsolov.
If Racing Bulls had been a standalone team, the decision to retain Lawson and Arvid Lindblad would have been a no-brainer. Rookie Lindblad is still seen as potential Red Bull Racing material in the future. And while that window appears to have come and gone for Lawson, he has amassed 89 points as the highest point scorer outside the top four teams.
With Racing Bulls tasked to train young drivers for Red Bull Racing though, it is understood Red Bull's Austrian parent company is particularly excited by F2 frontrunner Tsolov's promise. However, a decision to keep Lawson wouldn't necessarily work against Racing Bull's objective, as having such a solid benchmark in the other car has been useful to gauge Lindblad's performances this year too. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Tsolov would still benefit from a full year as a reserve driver, which includes more FP1s, private testing and simulator work.
Racing Bulls has also been explicitly asked by Austria to stand on its own feet both in terms of identity and performance, so that's why a dyed-in-the-wool F1 veteran like team principal Alan Permane would have been keen to maximise performance and stick with Lawson.
"The main factors are, as always, pace and speed. That's the very first thing we look for," Permane said when grilled on the topic on Friday in Sao Paulo. "But we're not just a team that exists solely to compete. We are here to bring young talent through, so we have to keep an eye on that. And that doesn't necessarily mean that we just keep churning young talent through the car. We need to maybe have some experience as well to measure that talent."
A treacherous Brazil weekend was one of Liam Lawson's finest.
The clearest hint that a difference in opinion between the various stakeholders is what has really been holding up the decision came from Lawson himself. "I feel like Alan's been extremely supportive to me and I appreciate that a lot," he said. "I've enjoyed working closely with him and with the team this year. Obviously, it's a big organisation so..."
Permane recently inked a fresh deal until 2031 as Racing Bulls team principal and co-CEO, so it's obvious that his opinion carries plenty of weight. And it would stand to reason that Permane has wanted some assurances about his share in the decision-making before committing.
"Alan is doing a tremendous job, and the progress the team has made is a direct reflection of his experience, commitment and competitive mindset," said Permane's boss Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO Corporate Projects and Investments Red Bull. "He brings clarity, composure, and a deep understanding of what it takes to perform in Formula 1, while creating an environment where people can consistently deliver at their best."
Meanwhile, fans of Lawson and the team have been flooding the squad's social media channels urging it to re-sign the Kiwi. "I appreciate all the support. I've seen it over the last few weeks. It's honestly really nice to see.
Racing Bulls is set for its strongest ever constructors' championship result in fifth place.
When it mattered the most, Brazil was perhaps Lawson's finest weekend yet. In treacherous conditions, Lawson took fifth on the grid, starting from third after grid penalties for George Russell and Charles Leclerc.
In the rain, he picked off McLaren's Lando Norris for second at the start, only to fall back to his natural position once drivers got their intermediate tyres back in the right operating window. Lawson battled to claim eighth on the road, being promoted to seventh after Leclerc was penalised for barging his way past in the closing laps.
Permane was obviously appreciative of how tough the past few weeks and months have been on one of F1 2026's standout performers, but said the team is nearly there.
"I realise it's frustrating for our drivers," he added. "I realise it's frustrating for everyone else, but we want to get it right, and we will get it right. I'm sure when we announce it in the coming weeks, everyone will be happy..."
Motorsport.com ·
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