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Liam Lawson has suggested the timing was wrong for his F1 debut despite Scuderia AlphaTauri ditching Nyck de Vries midway through the 2023 season.
The Red Bull junior also believes his hopes of reaching the pinnacle of the sport haven’t changed despite the return of Daniel Ricciardo.
Lawson is the leading player in the Red Bull junior programme and, arguably, first in line for an F1 race drive should one become available.
He is the operation’s reserve driver and attends most races, having to this point shared that responsibility with Ricciardo.
The New Zealander has this year been campaigning with success in Super Formula in Japan, alongside his F1 duties.
Given that remit, logic follows that he’s at the front of the queue for any racing opportunities – and potentially should have been the first consideration to replace de Vries.
Scuderia AlphaTauri has typically been used to blood young drivers in F1, but that has not been the case in this instance with Lawson overlooked in favour of Ricciardo.
That’s not the way he sees it, however.
“To be honest, I don’t really think it does much for me; it doesn’t change much for me,” Lawson told Speedcafe when asked about the impact of Ricciardo’s return on his F1 future.
“Basically, my target this season, my expectations from Red Bull, is to go to Super Formula, to try and win races and try and fight for the championship and finish the year out before looking at Formula 1.
“That’s what I’m still doing.
“To jump in mid-season would be extremely difficult,” he added of the prospect of replacing de Vries.
“With where Scuderia AlphaTauri is at the moment, having someone experienced like Daniel was definitely helpful for the team.
“Having someone who’s not been around before would be not so beneficial to them; I’d be learning double-time to try and catch up to somebody else.
“So for me, it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do, so it doesn’t change anything for me.
“I’m still focused on pushing in Super Formula and trying to land a seat next year.”
That seems a reasonable possibility, with Ricciardo’s arrival bringing with it the potential of a free seat at Scuderia AlphaTauri in 2024.
Should Ricciardo excel in his return, it’s probable that he’ll remain for 2024 with a view to a move back to the main team for 2025. That could spell the end of the road for Yuki Tsunoda.
Conversely, should Ricciardo not deliver what Red Bull is looking for, it has demonstrated before that it is not afraid of making tough calls.
In either case, Lawson is waiting in the wings, and his race-winning pace in Super Formula shows he is living up to his end of the bargain when it comes to expectations.
It’s likely we will see Lawson on track at a F1 race weekend soon, however, with teams still having to run a ‘rookie’ on two occasions during the year.
None have thus far, though Mercedes has confirmed Frederik Vesti will step in at the Mexico City Grand Prix in place of George Russell for Free Practice 1.
