Alex Albon has no doubt Liam Lawson will soon be a Formula 1 driver and that he has not missed out by failing to land a seat now with AlphaTauri.
After axing Nyck de Vries, Red Bull overlooked its Driver Academy pool and instead asked 34-year-old Daniel Ricciardo to return to F1 after an eight-month break following his exit from McLaren at the end of last year.
New Zealander Lawson is seen as the leading protagonist from the pool of juniors on Red Bull’s books to land a place in F1, with the 21-year-old in the hunt for the Super Formula title in Japan after winning three of the six races to date, with three remaining.
Albon, himself promoted from the Red Bull Academy before then being propelled into a Red Bull seat halfway through his rookie campaign in 2019, believes Lawson should not feel too downhearted.
“We can say it now but I’m sure his time will come,” said Williams driver Albon. “I’m confident he’s going to have a seat in F1 soon.
“To put him in now would have been tough for him because he would have been coming in as a rookie, halfway through a season, and with a driver next to you [Yuki Tsunoda] who’s in very good form and has done 10 races already.
“So it would have been very hard on him, and in some ways, it gives him some time for when he does come into Formula 1.
“He will be on a bit more of a level-playing field, even though it’ll be a fresh car, let’s say. He can have the testing and he can go into it in a proper way.
“Whereas if he had come in now, and he doesn’t perform well enough in the first three races, then he’s going to be attacked straight away. That’s what tends to happen.
“So in some ways, it’s not a silly decision to put Daniel in, someone who’s already got experience and doesn’t need such a big learning curve as Liam would.”
Suggested to Albon any driver would want to take any opportunity no matter the circumstances, the 27-year-old was naturally understanding.
“Of course you would, that’s for every driver who wants to get into F1,” said Albon.
Looking at the situation another way, he added: “You can look at it when I went into Toro Rosso and I got jumped into that Red Bull seat in my first year.
“That’s not easy. That’s not a fun way to start your time at Red Bull, so in that way, I see it from that side. That’s where I talk about it.
“Okay, of course, I still was driving a Formula 1 car but it wasn’t easy, and then you’re going to tracks like Singapore, Las Vegas this year.
“There won’t be many tracks he would have ever driven before. I think in some ways it’s a good thing for him.”
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