Kiwi Liam Lawson will start at the rear of the Formula One grid after qualifying 20th for the Dutch Grand Prix at the Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands. His unexpected F1 call-up happened after AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo was injured in FP2 practice on Friday.
“Today has been very hectic, with very tricky conditions,” commented Lawson. “It was my first time driving on the intermediate tyres during the first session, and it was different to what I expected, but I felt like I was getting somewhere and learning how the tyres behaved.
Wet conditions played havoc with all drivers in both Free Practice 3 and the first knockout Qualifying 1 sessions.
“During qualifying, I was feeling comfortable and like I was gaining a lot, but then it rained again, and I expected the grip to drop, but I was surprised by how high it stayed, so for sure, I didn’t maximise everything. I feel comfortable in the car, but with these conditions, it’s tricky to learn this
track in the car.
“Physically, I feel ok now, but with wet track conditions, it’s not as physically demanding as the dry, so I expect it to be more tough during the race. This track is definitely a tricky one, bumpy in some places and takes confidence, wich is difficult for me to pick up so quickly. If it’s dry tomorrow, I’m going to be learning many new things because I haven’t driven the car in fully dry conditions yet and haven’t done any long runs on dry compound tyres. I’ll just learn as much as possible and hang on.”
“The qualifying session has been again wet, which looks like a steady feature of the 2023 season,” said Guillaume Dezoteux (Head of Vehicle Performance). “As for Liam, it was about doing as many laps as possible to keep learning about the car and adapting to the conditions.
“He did a good job, making no mistakes and bringing the car home. There is definitely still a lot to come from him, and we are looking forward to the race, to hopefully give him useful dry running in the AT04”
“Any chance you get to race in Formula 1, you will grab with both hands,” Lawson said. “So I’m very excited about the opportunity I have been given. There are lots of emotions because it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was three years old.”
The Dutch Formula One Grand Prix gets underway at 1am NZ time Monday morning. Dutch driver Max Verstappen will start from pole position after qualifying fastest ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes George Russell.
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