Liam Lawson believes he is currently being provided with the ideal proving ground ahead of a potential promotion to F1.
After two seasons in F2, finishing ninth with Hitech in 2021 and third last year with Carlin, Lawson has switched to the highly competitive Super Formula series in Japan for this year as he continues his motorsport education.
The New Zealander is dovetailing the campaign with his commitments to Red Bull and AlphaTauri as reserve driver for both teams.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed a superb start with Team Mugen, becoming the first driver to win a race on debut, and scoring a second victory at the most recent event to lead the championship after four of the nine rounds.
Lawson has been able to learn a considerable amount from both the racing and his simulator work which is helping him rapidly progress on both fronts.
“The aero sensitivity of these cars is extremely high, and that relates a lot to F1,” said Lawson on the Honda Racing website. “The stuff we’re focusing on here with set-up is the same stuff.
“The last couple of years doing simulator work for Red Bull, I was learning stuff about the set-up that I had never looked at before, stuff that we just didn’t do in F2. But coming here, a lot of it is similar.
“Of course, the speed of the car is also much closer to F1. This bridges the gap so much. This is the only car that is somewhat close, with similar characteristics.
“I’m so glad to have come here. If I get a shot to race in F1, I will be really happy that I raced here first.”
Whilst the competition is fierce, which includes reigning champion Tomoki Nojiri as his team-mate, Lawson is revelling in the fact the pressure and rivalry are not as intense compared to other series in which he has competed.
“I would say I was a bit shy when I first came here because of the language barrier, but I very quickly learned that the whole team including Nojiri-san, are super respectful,” said Lawson.
“I think I have never had a team-mate who is as nice a person as Nojiri.
“As a driver who has grown up going through F4, F3, F2, you’re all trying to reach the same goal of making it to F1 and you have to beat each other to get there.
“Here, the top drivers are not looking elsewhere, so it doesn’t feel like that. There tends to be a lot more respect between drivers, which I didn’t experience so much before in my career.”
Lawson will again serve as reserve at the next race on the F1 calendar this weekend in Montréal, Canada.
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