The Formula 1 aspirations of Liam Lawson are gathering pace with another scheduled test appearance on the horizon for the aspiring Kiwi driver.
Christian Horner, the team principal for Red Bull, has characterized Sergio Perez's ongoing performance as "unsustainable", while also true is that Daniel Ricciardo's position at the junior team RB is in similar jeopardy.
If a permanent racing spot is not confirmed for the 22-year-old Lawson by Red Bull by this September, he will have the liberty to explore opportunities with other teams like Sauber-Audi for the 2025 season.
On a so-called 'filming day' on Thursday, Lawson took the wheel of Red Bull Racing's current model at Silverstone. What's more, he is set to drive a two-year-old Alpha Tauri car at Imola later in the month.
"Those tests have been planned for some time so they're not something that have just sprung up, they've been planned for a couple of months now," Horner elaborated to Sky F1.
"Liam is our test and reserve driver, that's his job."
In related news, Mick Schumacher has also extended his testing activities, having recently driven a two-year Alpine at Paul Ricard, followed by a Pirelli tyre testing session at Silverstone on Tuesday, behind the wheel of a McLaren.
The German, eager to make a comeback to F1, serves as a reserve for both McLaren-Mercedes and the main Mercedes team.
According to Formel1.de, Schumacher completed 53 laps, outpacing other drivers such as Williams' Alex Albon and Haas' Pietro Fittipaldi during the session.
Pirelli's chief Mario Isola expressed gratitude towards the teams, acknowledging the challenging schedule: "We are well aware that it is not easy to find the time and energy for two additional days of testing in a schedule as busy as this year's, especially after a very busy triple programme," he noted.
