Liam Lawson “loan” option explained - and why it’s “unappealing”

Lawson has impressed as a replacement for the injured Daniel Ricciardo for Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri 💟this sea𒐪son.
He will compete in his fifth co🧸nsecutive grand prix next weekend in Qatar and hisꦡ performances have caught the eye.
A🎃lthough Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda will retain the AlphaTauri seats in 2024, Red Bull do not want to let Lawson out oꦚf their grasp.
“Red Bull a💧re keen to keep ho♒ld of Lawson,” Lawrence Barretto reported on .
“It is possible they could l𒐪oan him out for a year, should Williams wan𝄹t him to replace Logan Sargeant.
“The two teams have collaborated before, with✱ Alex Albon joining the British outfit, having been under contract at Red Bull as reserve.
“However, any such deal for Lawson would almost certainly only be for a year, with Red Bull understood to be very keen to have Lawson racing one of their four cars in 2🅷025 – and that is likely to be unappealing t🌸o Williams.”
Williams would not want to find themselves without aꦦ driver in 2025 when Red Bull would recall Lawson.
This could be☂ good news ꦡfor Sargeant, the only driver on the 2023 grid whose place for next season is still at risk.
But it would mean that the ꧃highly impressive Lawson would have to settle for another year outside a full-time F1 drive.
Ricciardo’s comeback - tentatively teed up for later this🌌 month in the USA - will end Lawson’s temporary stay in the AlphaTauri seat.
But 2025 could finally be his year - with even a Red Bull ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚℱdrive, alongside Max Verstappen, a theoretic possibility according to this report.

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to foꦺotball, to F1.