Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls VCARB 03 during first practice at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix. Image: Liauzh / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
The Racing Bulls 2027 line-up is now set: Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad will stay on as the team’s drivers for the 2027 Formula 1 season. The announcement landed early Thursday and closes one of the last open questions on the 2027 grid. It also means Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov has no seat at Racing Bulls next year.
What is confirmed about the Racing Bulls 2027 line-up
- Racing Bulls announced Lawson and Lindblad as its 2027 line-up, according to Motorsport Week‘s report, which was published at 11:17 UTC on Nov. 12 (6:17 a.m. ET).
- Lawson is heading into his second full season with the team, and Lindblad made his Formula 1 debut in 2026.
- Team principal Alan Permane said the team is delighted to continue with both drivers, and Lawson and Lindblad each said they are looking forward to 2027.
- In October, Formula1.com reported that Permane had said the team would decide “in the coming weeks” and that Racing Bulls and Haas were the only teams without confirmed 2027 pairings at that point.
- Red Bull’s own 2027 pairing was settled earlier: Red Bull confirmed in September that Isack Hadjar stays alongside Max Verstappen.
Immediate implications (analysis)
Both Racing Bulls seats are now filled, so the 2027 Red Bull family reads Verstappen, Hadjar, Lawson and Lindblad. Tsolov, who sits second in the Formula 2 standings according to Motorsport Week, was the name most often linked with a promotion. Nothing in the announcement says where he goes next, so his route to Formula 1 is an open question rather than a closed one.
For Lawson, the decision is a vote of confidence after a season in which he also covered for Hadjar at Red Bull. As of mid-October, Formula1.com put him on 69 points, 14 of them scored while substituting for Hadjar, with Lindblad on 38 as a rookie. Backfire’s recent analysis of the Leclerc penalty at Interlagos and its report on the Mexico City yellow-flag penalties both touch on Lawson’s results this season.
What the Racing Bulls 2027 line-up means on track (analysis)
Continuity is the clearest benefit. Keeping the same two drivers lets Racing Bulls carry a full season of setup and simulator correlation into 2027 without rebuilding around a newcomer, and it gives Lindblad a second year to turn rookie lessons into consistency. Formula1.com reported in October that the team was on course for its best-ever constructors’ result, and an unchanged line-up protects that platform.
The trade-off is a crowded pipeline. With Tsolov waiting and Yuki Tsunoda’s Formula 1 options already limited, Red Bull has more drivers than seats. How it manages that, whether through reserve roles, loans or a different team, will say more about its 2028 plans than this announcement does. Haas, the other team still undecided in October, has been working to its own timetable, as Backfire covered when Haas moved Esteban Ocon out early.
What we still do not know
The announcement as reported does not state contract length or any option clauses, and it does not address Tsolov’s plans. Those details, along with Haas’s final pairing, are the next things to watch before the 2027 grid is complete.
Image credits: Featured image: Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls VCARB 03 during first practice at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, by Liauzh / Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0. Arvid Lindblad, 2026 Chinese Grand Prix qualifying: Liauzh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Liam Lawson, 2025 Japanese Grand Prix: Liauzh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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