Marko hits reverse gear on Liam Lawson declaration

Dr Helmut Marko has hit reverse gear, after declaring that Liam Lawson will "definitely" be racing a Red Bull-branded Formula 1 car in 2025.

Team boss Christian Horner was asked about Marko’s declaration at Zandvoort and answered: "I asked Helmut about it and he said Liam will have a seat in F1.

"But it could be somewhere else. There is nothing set in stone."

If Red Bull cannot find a place on the grid for 22-year-old reserve driver Lawson for 2025, he will be free to sign elsewhere - such as at Audi-Sauber.

Red Bull’s F1 consultant Marko, 81, also clarified his words when asked about his earlier Lawson comments on Friday.

"I think I said that he will be in a Formula 1 car next year," he told Viaplay.

"It is known that we have an option on him, but only if we can guarantee him a seat in Formula 1. We will decide in September what exactly we are going to do."

When asked to confirm that Lawson could therefore be in a RB, a Red Bull Racing, or perhaps an Audi-owned Sauber, Marko added: "I can tell you around mid-September."

On the track at Zandvoort, Max Verstappen lamented that his championship leading car is "a bit too slow in the short run and a bit too slow in the long run.

"It’s where we’ve been in the last few races, so it’s not really a surprise," the Red Bull driver added.

Marko, though, thinks the three tenths deficit to the top "can be made up". The Austrian added: "Max doesn’t like the car yet, but I think that if we have another dry session, we can solve a number of the small problems."

Marko also told Kleine Zeitung newspaper: "We are not in danger in the drivers’ world championship unless everything goes wrong.

"The constructors’ championship will be more difficult, so we have to hope that Sergio (Perez)’s consistency returns."