Liam Lawson has enjoyed an impressive start to life among motorsport's elite, but he may have to bide his time before stepping up to a full-time drive in Formula One.
On Thursday, AlphaTauri is expected to announce their drivers for 2024 and despite scoring championship points in Singapore, the rising Kiwi's name is expected to be missing.
Replacing an injured Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson has finished ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda in each of his three F1 races.
Despite that success, Tsunoda and Ricciardo are expected to be confirmed as the team's drivers for 2024, which veteran F1 expert Bob McMurray says is farcical.
"It kind of makes a mockery of the Red Bull young driver programme," McMurray told Newshub.
"There's a young driver that's come up through the programme waiting for a Formula One seat and they're putting an old guy in there instead Daniel Ricciardo."
Tsunoda's also backed by Honda, who provide Red Bull and AlphaTauri with their engines.
"All this has come about I think because Honda have got really scared that they're going to lose Tsunoda from the Red Bull team and they have pulled muscle."
The pending situation means Lawson's likely to stay as a Red Bull reserve driver next year, although former F1 driver Anthony Davidson's suggested he could be loaned to Williams.
"Go and learn there, and then when we think you're ready or there's a space for you we'll definitely have you back," Williams suggested may be Red Bull's approach for Lawson.
Lawson is off contract with Red Bull at the end of the year and McMurray's sure about one thing.
"I don't think it's time for him to cut ties with Red Bull," he added.
The door may seem shut for now but Lawson will be hoping not to bang it down soon.
