Liam Lawson "will" be on the Formula 1 grid next year, as confirmed by Red Bull's F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko.
Marko, 81, had already hinted prior to the recent Austrian GP that Daniel Ricciardo would be moved aside at the junior team RB to make space for Lawson.
Strong speculation suggests that 22-year-old reserve driver Lawson's contract with Red Bull ensures him a full race seat by 2025, or he will be free to join another team, such as Audi-Sauber.
However, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner and RB CEO Peter Bayer were not ready to confirm this news during the Red Bull Ring event last weekend.
"Daniel is in the seat and it's down to him to make the most of that," Horner stated, while
Bayer added, "We do our job to develop young drivers, but the decision on the second seat will be taken quietly and we're not in a hurry."
Amidst the apparently ongoing internal power struggle at Red Bull, it seems Horner wants to retain Ricciardo for 2025, while Marko is advocating for the young New Zealander Lawson.
Marko told Bild newspaper when asked about Lawson: "We will offer him something. A cockpit for next year."
He elaborated, "It is clear that the Racing Bulls are a junior team. That has been communicated internally and everyone has understood that."
Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hopes the Red Bull turmoil continues long enough for Max Verstappen to consider switching teams.
"At the beginning," he told Kronen Zeitung newspaper, "I thought (Oliver) Mintzlaff was brought in to run that company with an iron fist.
But the decisions that are being made there are clearly being made elsewhere. I believe they wanted this Horner story to be handled the way it probably should have been handled - but that did not happen."
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