Liam Lawson could make a sensational return to the F1 grid in Monza this weekend.
Multiple sources have revealed to Speedcafe that there are ongoing efforts to place the 22-year-old New Zealander at Williams in place of Logan Sargeant.
It’s understood Williams team boss James Vowles has been in contact with Christian Horner with one of the topics being the possibility of loaning Lawson for the balance of the season.
While nothing has yet been agreed, there is interest from both parties.
“It depends on which terms and if we needed him back, would we get him back,” Christian Horner said of the concept.
“Certainly, if they needed a driver next weekend, we’d be open to that.
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“But that’s a Williams question rather than one for us to answer.”
Sargeant has struggled in his second season of F1 and is set to lose his drive at year-end to Carlos Sainz.
The American is one of only three drivers, together with the Sauber pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, yet to score a point in 2024.
He’s also had a number of incidents, including heavy crashes during practice in Japan and the Netherlands, while he crashed out of the Canadian Grand Prix.
His place in the team has been in doubt for some time with suggestions earlier in the year that he would be ousted from the drive following the Canadian Grand Prix.
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Lawson has been on the fringes of F1 since making a five-race cameo in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix for AlphaTauri.
He performed admirably given his lack of preparation for the drive, his tenure highlighted by a points finish in Singapore.
At the time, that result was AlphaTauri’s best performance of the season.
However, it was not enough to earn him a call-up for 2024, with the squad electing to retain both Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.
He has remained in the picture ever since, typically linked to Ricciardo’s seat at RB though most recently he was in the frame to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing.
Perez has retained the drive for the moment after it was decided that he was better placed than Ricciardo, who has been inconsistent in 2024, or the inexperienced Lawson.
Having Lawson drive for Williams makes a great deal of sense for all involved.
From Williams’ perspective, it affords the team a driver with proven pedigree, one who would be expected to perform at a higher level than Sargeant.
Red Bull meanwhile would get the opportunity to see him in action once more, offering it an insight into his potential ahead of any 2025 driver decisions.
Finally, it gives Lawson the opportunity to get back on the grid and blow off some of the cobwebs from not racing this season.
Lawson remains a strong contender for the one remaining Red Bull-backed race seat next season, a seat currently occupied by Ricciardo.
However, time is running out for the team to make a call on the New Zealander, whose contract stipulates that he must be guaranteed a race seat by September else he becomes a free agent.
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