It’s one of life’s lessons and it was particularly rammed home to all of us during the Covid lockdowns. If an opportunity comes along, you have to be ready to act, or you might end up regretting it forever.
Probably no one was more surprised by his Formula One call-up than Liam Lawson himself! The unexpected opportunity presented itself to Lawson after AlphaTauri F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand in FP3 (practice) for the Dutch Grand Prix in the Netherlands.
This ruled Ricciardo out of the rest of the round and as a Red Bull reserve driver, Lawson was at the track to step in as a replacement.
Initially it must have been quite a shock for Lawson as this is not the ‘normal’ route to become a F1 driver. In fact, circumstances seemed to be changing in the F1 environment which appears that money and politics seem to be paying more of an influence in driver selection. Loyalty is to the deal (money and politics) and not necessarily the faithful junior drivers.
While Lawson has made his way through the Red Bull Junior program, there has never been a certainty that an F1 seat would be available for him. Nyck de Vries was originally signed to the McLaren Young Driver Programme (2010-2019), eventually making his F1 debut in September 2022 as a substitute driver for Williams F1 team. AlphaTauri took him on as a full-time driver for 2023 before being replaced by a ‘Red Bull returnee’ Daniel Ricciardo due to poor form.
Arguably Lawson had been over-looked twice, first with the selection of de Vries and then his replacement! This is why Lawson has to take this opportunity with all his might. It may either make or break him as an F1 driver.
So far after two Grand Prix, so good. He has finished both the Dutch and now the Italian Grand Prix and performed a solid job, bringing his car home in one piece and beating his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda (even though Tsunoda retired before the start of the Italian GP).
The next test will be the very different Singapore F1 Grand Prix (15-17 September 2023). This presents a new challenge of street racing with little room for error. Perform well here and Lawson could find that he remains in the car for the rest of the season.
The momentum is with him. Ricciardo is no young spring chicken while Lawson presents youth, enthusiasm and maybe the future. This brings some interesting options for both Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen appears to be the only ‘safe’ seat in their current driver line-up. Tsunoda could be dropped as could Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate. Red Bull have options for 2024 and so far Lawson will be in!
This is Lawson’s opportunity to shine and so far, he has stepped up gaining kudos from all quarters on his two GP performances so far. It’s unlikely that he will be given another chance.
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