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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has made it clear to Liam Lawson he has not run his last race in F1.
Lawson performed admirably over the five grands prix in which he deputised for Daniel Ricciardo with AlphaTauri, even if he felt he let himself down with his performance in the last of those in Qatar last weekend.
With Ricciardo now recovered from breaking in multiple places a metacarpal of his little finger in his left hand following a crash in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix in August, the Australian is set for a second comeback this year at the next race in the United States.
Lawson will revert back to his reserve duties for both Red Bull and AlphaTauri across the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, before flying out to Japan for the final race of the Super Formula season in which he could become champion.
“He’s done a great job,” said Horner on Lawson’s five-race cameo. “Jumping in with zero mileage in the car, and he’s acquitted himself well as a grand prix driver. I think he’s caught all our attention in terms of the job that he’s done.
“It certainly won’t be his last race in F1, I’m sure of that, with what he’s done in these five races. He’s demonstrated that he deserves an opportunity in the future.”
Although Lawson will be in Austin in his back-up role, what he stands on the cusp of in Japan is not lost on him.
The 21-year-old New Zealander goes into the final race at Suzuka trailing championship leader Ritomo Miyata by eight points.
“It (winning the title) is very, very important for me,” said Lawson. “I think it can help have a huge impact on my career, especially with how the weekend went (in Qatar).”
Lawson was left effectively beating himself up for his performance at the Lusail International Circuit where he was last of the 17 classified finishers, albeit in extreme conditions given the heat and humidity that proved energy-sapping and left a number of drivers feeling unwell.
Prior to that, Lawson had made a name for himself, notably with his ninth-place finish in Singapore, which remains the best result by an AlphaTauri driver this season.
Assessing his chances of a future seat in F1, he remarked: “Up until this point (Qatar), the races were going pretty well.
“But it definitely didn’t help that. It’s pretty disappointing to finish my run of races like that.”
