Liam Lawson has had an impressive debut season in Formula 1, stepping in for Daniel Ricciardo. However, Red Bull decided to choose Yuki Tsunoda over him, despite Lawson’s strong performances.
Last year was a challenging one for AlphaTauri, the sister team of Red Bull. They struggled to find a consistent driver pairing. They started the year with Nyck deVries replacing a driver who moved to Alpine. Pierre Gasly, who had been with Red Bull for a long time, decided to leave and join Alpine. In Gasly’s place, they recruited former Formula 2 and Formula E Champion deVries. However, deVries failed to meet expectations.
DeVries’ disappointing results led to a change in the driver lineup. Ricciardo was injured and had to be replaced once again. This presented an opportunity for Liam Lawson, the reserve driver for Red Bull, to showcase his talent in Formula 1.
During his time at AlphaTauri, Lawson delivered impressive performances as a substitute for Ricciardo. He particularly stood out at the Singapore GP, where he scored 2 points by finishing ninth. However, Red Bull did not choose to hire Lawson for their sister team. Lawson expressed his disappointment about this decision in an episode of ‘Drive to Survive’.
Before joining Formula 1 as a reserve driver for Red Bull, Lawson had success in FIA F2 and also participated in the Japanese Super Formula series. A documentary called ‘Liam Lawson: In The Wings’ has been made to showcase his experiences in different motorsports formats.
Lawson has credited his time in Super Formula for improving his skills and preparing him for his eventual entry into Formula 1.
In other news, Lawson received the news that he would not be taking Yuki Tsunoda’s seat at AlphaTauri, despite outperforming him in Singapore. Christian Horner delivered this heartbreaking news to the 21-year-old, and it was captured in an episode of ‘Drive to Survive’.