Liam Lawson has been an exciting prospect for Red Bull over the last couple of years. He has been a part of the Red Bull driver academy since 2019. Lawson is expecting to get a seat in Formula 1 for the 2024 season.
Most of the time, when a Red Bull academy driver makes his way to Formula 1, it would be with Red Bull Racing’s sister team, AlphaTauri (previously Toro Rosso). Liam Lawson has been in conversation with Helmut Marko about his arrival at Formula 1. Formula 1 is the goal for most motorsport drivers and is the goal for Liam Lawson.
Lawson participated in the Formula 2 Championship in 2022 where he finished 3rd in the WDC. He also served as the test and reserve driver for AlphaTauri and Red Bull in 2022. This year, he has been racing in Super Formula. He is also a reserve driver for both of Helmut Marko’s teams.
Will Liam Lawson enter Formula 1 in 2024?
With Liam Lawson aiming for a Formula 1 seat in 2024, fans ask who will he replace. A few weeks back, this question could be easily answered. Nyck de Vries’s performance this season has been worse than expected. So fans were expecting him to be replaced sooner or later.
Last week, it was announced that Daniel Ricciardo will be replacing Nyck effective immediately. This has put Liam Lawson’s future in doubt. Although Ricciardo is not confirmed for the Formula 1 seat in 2024, the team would choose to keep him if his performances are good. This would mean that Liam Lawson might have to wait for another year to make his Formula 1 debut.
What a rookie season Liam Lawson is having in Super Formula 🤯
– P1
– P5
– P4
– P1
– P5
– P1He won today’s race at Fuji by over 4.4 seconds!
Where does you see Liam Lawson in 5 years? 👇#F1
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 16, 2023
Under the guidance of Helmut Marko, Liam Lawson has been told to focus on his performance for the Super Formula season this year. He is expecting to make his Formula 1 season debut in 2024. Before this weekend’s Super Formula race in Fujii, Lawson said: “I am just focused on this. It’s what [Red Bull] has told me to focus on as well. The expectation is for me to go and win the [SuperFormula] Championship, then we’ll discuss it.”
Although Liam Lawson would have hoped to replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri, he understands why the team chose to go for Ricciardo. He is right now focused on the Super Formula season where he is placed in second position. Hopefully, this would help him achieve a Formula 1 seat in the future.
Who could Liam Lawson replace in 2024?
If Daniel Ricciardo is able to retain his seat for the 2024 season, Liam Lawson has only 2 other options if he is to stay with the Red Bull driver academy. One will be to replace Yuki Tsunoda in the other AlphaTauri seat. This could be possible if Ricciardo is able to outperform Tsunoda in the remaining 12 races this season.
The other possibility for Liam Lawson is if Sergio Perez is not able to perform well over the next few races. In the scenario that Sergio Perez loses his Red Bull seat after this year, his immediate ideal replacement would be Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson. If Ricciardo replaces Perez, it would leave the AlphaTauri seat open for Liam Lawson. So either way, Lawson could make his entry into Formula 1. However, Perez is not worried about being replaced.
🗣️ | Liam Lawson says he doesn’t care about the Tsunoda-Ricciardo battle at AlphaTauri and he is just focussed on the SF championship to get that F1 seat
“I just need a seat, and whoever’s seat it is, I don’t really care!” pic.twitter.com/calZYgEKcY
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 15, 2023
For Liam Lawson to make his Formula 1 debut with one of the Red Bull teams, one of the above-mentioned drivers will have to underperform. If he still wishes to make his debut in 2024, he will have to reach out to other teams. The team who will have vacancies for the 2024 season is Haas, who could be looking for a younger driver to drive alongside Kevin Magnussen or Nico Hulkenberg.
Williams’s Logan Sargeant has been underperforming so far this season. There are rumors that Mick Schumacher is an ideal candidate to replace Sargeant. Liam Lawson could also throw his name there. Even Sauber would be an ideal choice for Liam Lawson.
Let’s see if any of the Red Bull drivers underperform in these next 12 races this season. Should Liam Lawson look outside Red Bull for a Formula 1 seat? These questions will be answered later this season.