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.

In a world exclusive interview with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking, Lawson said that it finally feels real.

“Obviously I had, I knew about it for the last sort of... probably two weeks, but until it’s out there to the world, it’s, it obviously doesn’t ever really feel set in stone.”

“It’s a very cool feeling.”

Lawson told Hosking that he hasn’t had time to celebrate yet, as the news has come in at a very challenging point.

“Obviously, you know, all these guys have done three quarters of a season now, so I have to try and compete with that now, at tracks that I haven't done as well. So it's gonna be challenging.”

“it's very, very special, but we don't have much time to, to really let it sink in,” he said.

“We're getting straight to work.”

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