Liam Lawson continues to prepare for the Qatar stage

Liam Lawson went to the start of the Japanese Grand Prix knowing that next year he would again only be destined for the role of reserve driver for Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, as it was confirmed during the weekend in Suzuka that the composition of the Faenza team remains unchanged, i.e. in 2024 Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo will continue to fight for it.

Liam took 11th place, once again finishing ahead of his more experienced Japanese teammate and without making a single mistake, i.e. at least he did what was required of him.

The management of AlphaTauri and Red Bull probably had no doubt that Lawson could still be tasked with driving the car of either of these two teams. And such a need could arise on stage in Qatar in two weeks.

Ricciardo is still recovering from a left hand injury and it is not a fact that he will be in good shape in the next phase of the season, especially since the team does not intend to force things. As AlphaTauri Chief Engineer Jonathan Eddolls emphasized: “There is no need on our part or his to return early. The worst that can happen is that Ricciardo is back behind the wheel before everything is healed, and this will lead to new problems. The final decision depends on him, not on us…’

Of course, Liam will be happy to continue driving the Australian’s car for as long as necessary, but he cannot yet say whether he will drive in Qatar.

“The decision is not mine,” he said. – For my part, I do everything I can to make each session as effective as possible. Every time I get behind the wheel of a car I try to show myself in some way, and of course my ultimate goal is to compete in Formula 1. But it’s not up to me to decide when that might happen.

In the meantime, I will prepare for the stage in Qatar. The preparation process continues as usual and a decision will be made closer to the race weekend.”

Liam opened his points tally in his third Formula 1 race with a strong performance at the Singapore Grand Prix, but he is also pleased with his performance last weekend. In Suzuka he failed to reach the top ten, but he still managed to make up a number of positions.

“To be honest, we didn’t have much confidence after practice because we knew the car didn’t have race speed,” the New Zealander admitted. – Of the drivers from the strongest teams, everyone finished, with the exception of Sergio Perez, but the rest finished. And we just didn’t have enough speed to fight with Alpine and Aston Martin.

But I think we did our best. Too bad, because I was close to the top ten, but unfortunately I still couldn’t get any points.”