Kiwi Liam Lawson is moving to end speculation over his immediate future in Formula One, shutting down the prospect of a drive with Williams in 2024.
Despite impressing in four races with AlphaTauri after stepping in as an injury replacement for Daniel Ricciardo, 21-year-old Lawson does not have a fulltime drive next season.
Red Bull have instead backed AlphaTauri's current pair of Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda to remain with their sister outfit, while Lawson will act as reserve driver for both sides.
Lawson has finished ahead of Tsunoda four times in as many races and secured AlphaTauri's best result of the season with ninth at the Singapore Grand Prix.
But Newshub understands the decision to retain the AlphaTauri pair was made before Lawson had even driven for the team, meaning he would not break into Formula One fulltime regardless of his performances.
However, one option that could have seen the Kiwi on the grid would have been with Williams, who are yet to finalise their driver pairing for next year.
While Alex Albon is contracted through to the end of 2024, rookie Logan Sargeant is still unsigned and is the only current driver on the Formula One grid yet to score a point this season.
Lawson will remain a Red Bull contracted driver regardless but the prospect of a loan move - whereby he could join Williams for 2024 before returning to either Red Bull or AlphaTauri in 2025 - had been mooted.
Speaking after the Japanese Grand Prix, though, Lawson clarified he will not chase a seat with Williams next season.
"I'm a Red Bull driver," Lawson said. "All the Red Bull seats are filled and unfortunately for me that means that, for now, I'll be reserve driver.
"I've got my head down at the moment trying to make the most of these races.
"Obviously my goal is to be in F1 so I'll try and do what I can to achieve that in the future. One of the positives about being a Red Bull driver is, for me having five years in this programme, it's a high-pressure programme.
"We're put under pressure from day one, and I'm now used to that. It's been five years of that, so situations like this, I'm ready for them."
Despite his poor results this year, Williams are likely to stick with Sargeant, who brings in sponsorship from the lucrative US market as the only United States driver on the grid.
With two races still to be held in the US, in both Austin and Las Vegas, any contract extension for Sargeant would likely be announced then.
Lawson will race again for AlphaTauri again at next month's Qatar Grand Prix, with his place in the car guaranteed until Ricciardo fully recovers.
However, it's understood pressure has been applied to both Ricciardo and Sergio Perez to retain their places in 2025, with the Kiwi to come into the car midway through 2024 should either fail to perform.
