The debut in F1
The only team in which there were driver replacements during the championship underway in 2023 was AlphaTauri, now called Racing Bulls. The initial line-up, made up of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries, underwent a first change after ten races with the exit of the Dutch driver, replaced by the returning Ricciardo, who had concluded his experience with McLaren in 2022 returning to Red Bull as third driver. However, injured in Zandvoort, the Australian had to give up 5 races, with Red Bull calling the rookie in his place Liam Lawson.
5 convincing races
The New Zealander, despite his inexperience in F1 as an official driver, was the protagonist of good performances. Above all, the 9th place obtained in Singapore GPwhich allowed him to earn i first points in career. The sensation, once the world championship was over, was that of a possible reconfirmation of the 22-year-old, which however vanished following the Faenza team's decision to focus again on Tsunoda and Ricciardo.
The hopes
Today, in addition to competing in Super FormulaLawson retains the role of third driver of Red Bull and Racing Bullsbut he retains many question marks and many hopes about his future in F1: “Honestly, there is no set timeline for my future – he explained to Speedcafe – There's nothing set in stone, of course, about my future. Basically, for me, it's about staying ready and hopefully there are opportunities coming”.
The frustration
No longer being recognized as a 'rookie' by F1, Lawson will not even be able to take part in PL1 of the GPs, but the hope that an opportunity may soon present itself obviously remains alive: “I still feel like a rookie – He admitted – in practice it will mainly be about work on the simulatorand then of all the races with the team as a reserve. Every driver, at this level anyway, has enough confidence in themselves to be in Formula 1: you have to have it to even get close, but it's different because obviously I always imagine what it would be like to drive in Formula 1. Now I know what it's like. It's a different perspective, I got a little taste of it, and it definitely makes it more frustrating“.
#Lawson #It39s #frustrating
