Liam Lawson is disappointed losing out a F1 seat for 2024 but he is doing all to have a better future as he gets another go in Qatar GP.
Over the Japanese GP weekend, it was confirmed that AlphaTauri will have Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo in driving capacity for F1 2024 while Lawson will remain as reserve for both Red Bull and AlphaTauri with test outings along with simulator run.
It was natural disappointment for Lawson but he has kept his held high as he pushes to be on the grid in 2025 at the very least, something that even Christian Horner has noted. For now, the Kiwi gets another go in this weekend’s Qatar GP at Lusail circuit.
Ricciardo was aiming to be back in the car this weekend but his recovery is taking long and so he will have to wait until the US GP now. “In Japan, the news came public that I’m back to the role of reserve driver next year,” said Lawson. “Obviously, my goal is to be in Formula 1 full-time, so as much as it’s disappointing, it’s still my goal, and it’s now about trying to make sure that I can make that happen in the future.
“Right now, I’ve still got this opportunity to keep trying to show something, and I’ll try to make the most of it. For now, as long as this lasts, I’ll focus on it, and then once I step back from F1, it’ll be full focus on preparing for the final round of the Super Formula championship at Suzuka on the weekend of the Mexican Grand Prix.
“It’ll be very different adjusting back to the car, but it’s certainly been useful having driven so many laps at Suzuka throughout the Grand Prix weekend. For now we move on to Qatar. I’m not sure how we’ll get on there or how the upgrades will work. I think it’s hard to say because where we struggled in Japan was mainly in the high speed, in Sector 1.
“We still have more to learn about our new package, and I’m not so sure that Qatar is the type of circuit that will suit our car. Learning takes time, and we’ve got more opportunities in Qatar to try and get the most out of it. However, it’s also a Sprint weekend, so at the same time, that makes it quite tricky, especially in my situation. I’ve never driven here, so going into the sprint weekend will be extra tough.
“I drove the Qatar track in the simulator at the end of last week. It’s very fast, a very high-speed circuit and quite unique, and I’ve not seen many tracks like it, as there’s only one low-speed corner in the whole track. The rest is just fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh gear, so I think it’s going to be exciting to drive.
“With only one Free Practice session, we drivers will have to know where to improve because it’ll get faster at night when it’s much cooler, and we need to know exactly how to extract everything out of the car. I’m expecting it to be tougher than the races we’ve just done,” summed up Lawson.
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo’s feedback being praised
Here’s news on 2024 AlphaTauri line-up
Here’s Christian Horner on Liam Lawson