Liam Lawson’s respectable F1 debut
His efforts in Zandvoort were solid given the difficult conditions he faced.
Imagine the pressure that 21-year-old Liam Lawson must’ve felt when he woke up on Saturday.
He was about to make his F1 debut with AlphaTauri, standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo. He’d be driving an unfamiliar car, would only get one hour of practice, and would have to deal with constantly changing weather.
The circumstances could not have been more difficult.
But, Lawson was composed and professional from the moment he got in the car. He didn’t put it in the barriers at any point, except for a spin during practice on Saturday.
On Sunday, his race start was a bit messy with the rain beginning to fall, but he otherwise drove a quiet race near the back of the pack. He avoided trouble for much of the day and finished 13th.
It won’t be a result everyone will remember in years to come, but Lawson could not have been expected to deliver much more given the treacherous conditions.
Additionally, the AlphaTauri car has been one of the worst of 2023. The team is bottom of the F1 standings and the car has only previously finished as high as 10th.
Lawson has mostly earned praise for his efforts in Zandvoort. F1 journalist Chris Medland wrote on Twitter that Lawson was “hugely impressive to even be on the pace” given he got just a single practice session to prepare.
AlphaTauri head of vehicle performance Guillaume Dezoteux said Lawson did “a very good job” and continued to adapt to the constantly evolving conditions.
“He made no mistakes and was able to build up the pace on dry tyres,” he added.
It’s worth pointing out here that Lawson only got his first taste of dry tyres during the race. Additionally, he had to use the intermediate tyre in practice and qualifying, a compound he had no experience with.
Given the circumstances, Lawson’s Zandvoort weekend was always more about survival than heroics - a point that he even seemed to acknowledge after the race.
“The aim was to do all 72 laps today,” he said. “I’m just happy to have gotten through”.
Alongside the conditions and suddenness of the debut, his outing would’ve been all the more difficult because it was also a quasi-job trial.
Lawson is backed by Red Bull and is on the cusp of breaking into F1 full-time.
His Zandvoort call-up was undoubtedly a huge opportunity to show Red Bull that he’s ready for a full-time drive. After all, the 2024 AlphaTauri line-up is still yet to be decided (at least publicly).
To get a full-time seat, Lawson would need to convince Red Bull to choose him over Ricciardo or Tsunoda - which is no easy task. The odds are certainly stacked against him.
Yes, Lawson’s result in Zandvoort was respectable, but frankly, it probably wasn’t enough to convince Red Bull that he’s the better bet for 2024.
That said, AlphaTauri has confirmed that Lawson will get another F1 opportunity this weekend at the Italian Grand Prix. Monza is a far simpler track than Zandvoort and the current weather forecast is more favourable too.
If Zandvoort was about survival, then a dry-weather Monza will be about heroics.
Funnily enough, it was the Italian Grand Prix last year when Nyck de Vries delivered a heroic stand-in drive and finished a memorable 9th for Williams. That single performance is what earned him a full-time seat at AlphaTauri for 2023.
Lawson will be aiming to pull off something similar.