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Daniel Ricciardo has encouraged Liam Lawson to keep pushing for a berth in F1 after impressing during his cameo stint, stating “his time will come”.
Lawson substituted for Ricciardo for five races after the Australian broke a bone in his had during a crash in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.
The 22-year-old impressed in his five-race run, scoring points in Singapore in what was Scuderia AlphaTauri’s best single result of the season.
It’s catapulted the young New Zealander into the conversation for a full-time drive in future.
However, that is unlikely to be 2024 as Scuderia AlphaTauri opted to retain Yuki Tsunoda alongside Ricciardo.
That leaves Lawson resigned to a reserve driver role once again despite his impressive stint in place of Ricciardo.
“Liam did a great job for sure,” Ricciardo said when asked by Speedcafe for his thoughts on his substitute’s efforts.
“In terms of him currently not having a seat next year, I think it’s one of those ones where he’s young.
“It’s not like he’s at the end of his career, he’s very much in the early part of his career, so just keep persisting, keep your head down.
“He did very well to create an opportunity for himself, so I think if he keeps on that course his time will come.”
Groundswell in the F1 paddock is that Lawson deserves an opportunity, but the machinations are such that there isn’t an available seat – with the possible exception of that occupied by Logan Sargeant at Williams.
Prior to Ricciardo’s injury, Lawson has admitted that he felt his opportunity to race in F1 was slipping away.
The run of races he has had have jump-started his career in many respects, making a year on the sidelines difficult to process.
“We always feel as drivers, and we all obviously believe in ourselves so much, that you always feel like ‘why isn’t it happening yet?’
“I don’t know. Your career can be very long. He’s young, he’s 21 or something.
“I’m sure he’ll find a way on the grid if he keeps up what he’s been doing.”
