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Liam Lawson feels a full weekend of preparation will help him to deliver across the Italian Grand Prix – although is expecting the attention to again rise another level.
Lawson was thrust into the spotlight at the Dutch GP after Daniel Ricciardo broke a bone in his hand during a Friday practice crash in his AlphaTauri that sidelined him for the rest of the weekend at Zandvoort and for the upcoming event at Monza.
New Zealander Lawson only discovered he would be making his full F1 debut during the Friday evening drivers’ briefing at the circuit, forcing him to pay attention more than he had been doing up until that point.
Perhaps unsurprisingly after his initial running during a wet final practice, Lawson qualified at the rear of the 20-man grid from where he managed to finish 13th at the chequered flag following a 72-lap race during which he claims everything was thrown at him.
With Ricciardo again out after requiring surgery to repair the metacarpal in his little finger with screws and a plate, Lawson at least has three full practice sessions to further acclimatise to the AT04, and more usefully, with a dry weekend expected.
“In Monza, it’s going to be nice to have the full build-up to the weekend preparation-wise, being able to drive in all the practice sessions,” said Lawson.
“For Zandvoort, I flew in from Japan (following his latest race in Super Formula) on Thursday night after racing there the previous weekend. Obviously, you’re always prepared as much as you can be for these things, but it’s so unlikely that you never really expect it to happen – and then it did!
“The support from the team was amazing. They did everything possible to prepare me as much as possible in the limited time we had.
“Even during the race, Pierre (Hamelin, Race Engineer) was super supportive with so much information, basically walking me through it, and that really made my life a lot easier.
“Obviously, there are always things you can improve on. In the race, we had every condition thrown at us, so that was difficult at the time, but also a good and positive experience, which has helped me get ready for Monza.”
To aid his preparation for the renowned ‘Temple of Speed’, Lawson has been put through his paces in the simulator this week for a circuit he at least has some familiarity with after competing at the track in F2 and F3, even if not in an F1 car.
Reflecting on his simulator session, he said: “Even though we didn’t need to do much playing around with the seat to make me comfortable in the car, there are a few things we have looked at for this weekend.
“Monza is a lot lower downforce, so I’ll have to get used to that. Having not driven a Formula 1 car there, it will still be quite a big challenge, but it is more of a straightforward circuit, and it’s one I’ve driven a few times already.
“Regardless, there’ll be a lot more to learn, a lot more to improve on, and a lot from Zandvoort to reflect on to use for this week.”
One of the more unexpected situations he encountered at Zandvoort was the attention after going from being relatively unknown to an F1 driver overnight, which thrust him into the spotlight.
Although not with Ferrari, in driving for an Italian team this weekend, Lawson is anticipating he will be in demand.
“Going to Monza with an Italian team is also going to be special,” he said.
“If I think back to last weekend, Formula 1 is just such a different world – the difference between walking into the circuit on Friday compared to walking into the circuit on Saturday, I’ve never experienced anything like that, specifically that level of attention.
“Being a home race in Monza, I imagine it’s going to be even more significant there.
“It’s amazing to be doing this. It’s been my dream since before I can even remember, so it’s very cool to have this opportunity, and I’m just going to try to make the most of it.”
