Guenther Steiner believes Liam Lawson has world championship potential at the same time the Racing Bulls driver finds himself fighting for his future.

After penalties were applied in Brazil, Liam Lawson scooped a P7 finish, extending his impressive points-scoring streak amid questions over his future.

Guenther Steiner offers Red Bull advice to Liam Lawson

Guenther Steiner has already made it clear that he thinks Red Bull should keep Lawson, questioning why as a team they take the financial risk of developing another rookie when their current driver is thriving.

Speaking to New Zealand radio station MoreFM, Steiner reaffirmed his belief that Lawson will be retained by Racing Bulls, although he thinks the 24-year-old should pursue his own exit.

“Firstly, yes I think they will stick with him next year. And then I think Liam needs to make his own way out of the Red Bull family,” Steiner said.

“I think his promotion back to the Red Bull team from Racing Bulls, I don’t think that will happen. And if you don’t go there, that answers your first question, he cannot be world champion.

“Has he got the talent to be world champion? I think in the right car, he can be. There are a lot of them with similar talent to him at the moment in Formula 1.

“But when you get in the right team at the right place at the right time, he could achieve it. I think he has shown in this moment he can do a very good job with Racing Bulls, who are not in the top four teams.

“He has shown he can do a good job, but now he needs to be in one of the top four teams.”

Liam Lawson must capitalise on his incredible Racing Bulls form

Steiner clearly believes that Lawson needs to depart Red Bull and pursue a seat at one of McLaren, Mercedes or Ferrari.

Unfortunately, breaking into one of the established teams without having progressed through their rookie pipeline is a difficult task.

Lawson has been linked with the likes of Aston Martin, Cadillac and Williams, and perhaps his best option is to join an ambitious team with a long-term project and try to establish himself as the ‘number one’ driver by the time they can compete at the front of the grid.

But Lawson outscoring Oscar Piastri amid his McLaren struggles does suggest that he is ready to step up to a competitive team, and his current run of form will be catching the attention of team principals up and down the paddock.