FAENZA, Italy (AP) — Liam Lawson is staying in Formula 1 for 2027 with Racing Bulls alongside teammate Arvid Lindblad after speculation he would be replaced by up-and-coming Formula 2 driver Nikola Tsolov.
Racing Bulls gave Tsolov a run in practice for last month's Mexico City Grand Prix and has historically preferred to try out younger talent if its existing drivers didn't make a permanent step up to the main Red Bull team.
“We’re delighted to be continuing with Liam and Arvid for 2027. Both have demonstrated their ability and potential throughout the season, and we’ve seen the progress they’ve made, both individually and as a pairing," team principal Alan Permane said on Thursday.
"I have no doubt that this is the best driver lineup for us, bringing a strong combination of experience and ambition. Together, we have a solid foundation to build on the progress made this year, continue pushing ourselves forward and take the next step towards achieving our ambitions in 2027.”
Lawson has outperformed his rookie teammate Lindblad this year and the New Zealander is ninth in the championship, in a year which has restored his reputation in F1 after a failed two-race stint with Red Bull in early 2025. Lindblad is 11th.
Lawson returned to Red Bull briefly with solid results in a three-race stand-in role when Isack Hadjar was sidelined by a wrist injury. Lawson said on Thursday that Racing Bulls was “building something super positive” ahead of 2027.
Tsolov is in second place in F2 with two rounds remaining and is aiming to become the first Bulgarian driver in F1 history.
See AP’s full auto racing coverage here
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand arrives for the first free practice ahead of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix auto race at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand arrives for the third practice session of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand, front, and Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad of Britain steer their cars during the first free practice of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix auto race at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike hit the surgical wing of a major hospital in southern Gaza on Thursday, killing six people, including a doctor, and wounding at least 28 others, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas commander and other militants, without providing evidence.
Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis is one of the few functioning medical facilities left in Gaza, whose healthcare infrastructure has been decimated by a yearslong war.
The Israeli military has raided or laid siege to hospitals across the territory, accusing Hamas of using them as command centers and to hide fighters. It has also destroyed medical equipment and supplies and killed or detained hundreds of healthcare workers.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday’s strike killed general surgeon Rizk Abu Shaira. Inside the building, parts of several floors were either severely damaged or destroyed. Debris was scattered across hospital beds and equipment, and rebar dangled from the ceiling.
British surgeon Goher Rahbour, who is volunteering at Nasser Hospital, said that the strike occurred just after midnight and shook the whole building.
“It was extremely smoky,” said Rahbour, who was on the fourth floor of the surgical department at the time. The recovery area on the same floor was reduced to rubble, he said.
He said he had been operating alongside Abu Shaira just hours before the strike. “Lovely guy, happy and smiling,” Rahbour said.
Ahmed al-Farra, a doctor and the general director of the hospital, said no warning came before the attack. He said surgeries had been suspended, as had work in the radiology department and the laboratory, because of damage to the building where medical personnel were already struggling to provide care due to supply shortages and “miserable” conditions.
He said other nearby medical facilities were not equipped to do the type of “specialized surgeries” that Nasser Hospital had been providing, leaving patients in need of them to “face an unknown fate.”
He said an attack on a hospital should be met with a forceful response from the international community. “Imagine if this event happened in another country in the world. Would the world fall silent about it? No, by God, no.”
“No one’s safe here,” he added, switching from Arabic to English.
The Israeli military has raided or laid siege to hospitals across Gaza, accusing Hamas of using them as command centers and to hide fighters. It has also destroyed medical equipment and supplies and killed or detained hundreds of healthcare workers.
In armed conflict, hospitals and their staff are protected under international humanitarian law. A hospital can lose its protected status, however, if it is used for military purposes.
In a statement on Thursday, the military said Hamas had “established a presence within the hospital complex” and that the commander had turned it “into a headquarters.”
Israeli forces have previously attacked Nasser Hospital. In 2025, the military killed five journalists — including Mariam Dagga, who worked for The Associated Press — when it struck a gathering point for local reporters at the complex.
The war in Gaza started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Since then, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 74,600 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records and its figures are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its toll but says women and children make up around half the dead.
Israel has continued to strike Gaza despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire and controls at least 60% of the enclave. Since the truce went into effect in October 2025, Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed 1,622 people, health authorities say. Five Israeli soldiers have also been killed during that period.
Ezzidin reported from Cairo.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Medical staff inspect damage to Nasser Hospital after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike overnight in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
People walk at Nasser Hospital after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike overnight in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners attend the funeral of Khalid Abu Anza, 53, who was killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect damage to a building and tents a day after they were hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect their damaged tent a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
