“I feel like I made the most of each opportunity but I definitely didn’t execute everything perfectly, and there’s stuff that I’ll learn from reflecting on these races.
“I would say I definitely tried and gave my best at every opportunity. Every decision, whatever I did at the time felt like the best thing for me to do, but obviously you never do the perfect race.”
There have been reports that this will be Perez’s last with Red Bull, paving the way for Lawson to step into his vacant seat.
According to multiple reports, 34-year-old Perez will not continue as a Red Bull driver beyond this year, the team having lost their crown as Formula One’s constructors champions.
Lawson said he’s ready for the move to that seat.
“I do feel like if the opportunity one day came to go to Red Bull, I feel ready for it.
“I think I would relish the opportunity to go up against [Max Verstappen] if I ever got that opportunity. You get to learn from the best guy.
“You get access to everything he’s doing, to all of his data. To have that for every single session, for me, would be the most exciting part about that opportunity. So yes, I’d say I feel ready.”
Lawson’s primary instruction in his stint at the back end of the season was to better teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s results, however the Kiwi trails 3-2 in this season’s races, despite taking a 4-1 lead in a five-race spell in 2023.
While Tsunoda is also a contender to move up into Red Bull, having been with the team since 2021, it’s understood senior figures within the team are hesitant to promote him.
Tsunoda is linked to Red Bull through engine supplier Honda, who are with Red Bull’s two teams until the end of next season. After that, though, Honda will join Aston Martin.
It’s understood that Red Bull do not want to give Tsunoda a year in their car, only to lose him 12 months later, and see him join a rival. Aston Martin have already landed one blow against Red Bull this year by signing legendary car designer Adrian Newey.
Why Serio Perez could be dropped by Red Bull
Despite a promising start to 2024, which earned Perez a one-year contract extension and a team option for 2026, the Mexican driver’s form has fallen off a cliff.
While teammate Verstappen has won a fourth straight drivers championship, and scored 429 points with nine wins, Perez sits eighth heading to Abu Dhabi, with 152 points.
That gap is the largest between any two teammates this season. What’s more, should Verstappen win Abu Dhabi, and Perez fail to score at all, the gap could extend beyond 300 points.
According to ESPN, Perez’s contract extension means he cannot be sacked from Red Bull as an organisation outright. However, he would also be freed to remain with the team in an ambassadorial role.
That role would effectively leave Perez as a marketing tool for Red Bull, with his popularity bringing in both sponsorship and audience in his native Mexico, and Latin America.
Red Bull had a clause in Perez’s contract where he could be terminated at this year’s summer break, if he trailed Verstappen by more than 100 points.
But even though Perez met that mark, Red Bull kept faith in the hope he’d rediscover his form in the back end of this season.
Should Perez leave the team, Lawson looms as the first cab off the rank to replace him.
Elsewhere on the grid, Williams’ Franco Colapinto has also emerged as a contender, after a strong start to his temporary stint with the team. After replacing the sacked Logan Sargeant, Colapinto scored points in two of his first four races, with eighth in Azerbaijan and 10th at Austin.
However, his last three race weekends have seen crashes in Brazil, Las Vegas, and Qatar on Monday. On top of any damage costs to the team, it is widely understood Red Bull would have to pay an eight-figure sum to release him from his Williams contract.
Red Bull academy driver Isack Hadjar has been with the team since Austin, and looms as the likely candidate to step into Racing Bulls, as and when one of Lawson or Tsunoda is promoted.
Red Bull senior adviser and head of youth development Dr Helmut Marko has said no decision will be announced until after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next week.
