Benson argues Lawson should stay alongside Lindblad at Racing Bulls

Andrew Benson sees a case for Racing Bulls to keep Liam Lawson alongside Arvid Lindblad for 2027: Lawson would give the team a consistent point of comparison for judging Lindblad. In Benson's proposal, Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov would become reserve.

The team has not settled its 2027 pairing, Benson said in a BBC F1 Q&A ahead of the United States Grand Prix. He names current drivers Lawson and Lindblad, along with Tsolov, as contenders for the two seats. Tsolov was second in the Formula 2 championship at the time of the Q&A.

Benson says Lawson is consistently quicker at present in both qualifying and races, while Lindblad's debut season has impressed in patches. Keeping the pair together in 2027 would help Racing Bulls judge whether Lindblad can regularly beat Lawson and become a candidate for the senior Red Bull team, Benson argues.

Benson's proposed route for Tsolov is a reserve role, simulator work and tests in older cars to gain F1 experience. Putting Tsolov alongside Lindblad would leave two unknown quantities together, he says, making it harder to assess either driver.

For the first time in Red Bull's history, Helmut Marko is not in charge of driver selection at the junior team. Benson says it is unclear how the new management will approach the choice. He characterises the earlier approach under Marko and former team boss Christian Horner as ruthless: drivers who failed to deliver almost immediately were dropped.

Benson says the final decision rests with shareholders Chalerm Yoovidhya and Mark Mateschitz, with Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff in overall charge of the F1 programme.