After a year of waiting, Formula One’s worst-kept secret has been confirmed: Liam Lawson will finish the rest of this season driving for Racing Bulls.

The 22-year-old has been locked in to drive for the subsidiary team of Red Bull at the expense of Australian Daniel Ricciardo for the final six races of the season, after which he’s expected to secure the spot for the 2025 season.

The move means Lawson will step into the Racing Bulls cockpit for Formula One’s next Grand Prix in Austin, Texas on October 21 (NZT). He becomes the first New Zealander to secure a fulltime seat in Formula One since Brendon Hartley in 2018.

Listen live: World exclusive - Mike Hosking talks to Liam Lawson at 7.37am

“Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile. He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family,” team boss Laurent Mekies said.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam. He already knows the team well. He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it’ll be a natural transition.”

Over the remaining six races of the season, Lawson will be evaluated against teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s performance before Red Bull make a decision around the make-up of their teams for the 2025 season. As it stands, Tsunoda has another year on his contract at Racing Bulls, while world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are locked in to drive for Red Bull’s senior team. But a strong end to the year by the Kiwi could change things.

Red Bull had until September 15 to secure the Kiwi for 2025 and beyond, and the Herald understands pressure was applied from the team’s shareholders to see Racing Bulls move back to its roots of being a junior team to develop talent to progress into the senior ranks.

Overseas media had reported a separate clause that would guarantee Lawson at least five races in the 2024 season. However, Lawson’s management has confirmed to the Herald those reports are false.

Lawson’s elevation comes after being forced to be patient for the majority of 2024. He impressed in a brief five-race stint with the then AlphaTauri in 2023, and was then overlooked for a place with Red Bull’s junior side.

Despite outperforming Tsunoda in four races, Lawson has been consigned to the role of reserve driver for both of its teams this season, after contracts to finalise the 2024 Racing Bulls line-up were signed before the Kiwi was able to drive for the team.

However, Lawson subsequently re-signed with Red Bull on a new contract that left the organisation having to find him a seat for next season before the deadline of September 15.

Lawson’s confirmation coming after the Singapore Grand Prixis just reward for the Kiwi, who found out he’d lost out on a 2024 seat at the same venue 12 months earlier.

The Herald understands more than one team were interested in acquiring Lawson, should Red Bull not have utilised him, but the Pukekohe native was not interested in taking his services elsewhere.

Red Bull have backed Lawson since he was a teenager, and seen him rise through junior categories Formula Three, Formula Two and Japan’s Super Formula, in the hope of developing him into his current position.

Lawson’s elevation also ends one of Formula One’s most prevalent storylines over the current season. With the exception of Verstappen, Red Bull’s two teams have struggled to consistently score points throughout 2024.

The team were expected to axe the struggling Perez over the summer break, and promote either Lawson or Ricciardo into the senior team, only for the Mexican to be backed to continue for the rest of 2024.

In the background, Red Bull senior advisor Dr Helmut Marko has also championed Lawson’s cause in the team’s ranks.

On at least three separate occasions, Marko made it clear it was Red Bull’s prerogative to have a junior driver in the Racing Bulls seat alongside Tsunoda, with the team intended to be a development pathway into the senior team.

His presence on the Formula One grid will be a huge boost for the senior team, with Perez only contracted to the end of 2025.

Lawson’s rise to the fulltime seat comes at a good time for New Zealand fans with five of the six remaining races taking place at more TV-friendly times.

Formula One races remaining

US Grand Prix, Monday October 21, 8am

Mexico Grand Prix, Monday October 28, 9am

Brazilian Grand Prix, Monday November 4, 6am

Las Vegas Grand Prix, Sunday November 24, 7pm

Qatar Grand Prix, Monday December 2, 6am

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Monday December 9, 2am

Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.