Liam Lawson says he is striving to “make the most” of what is likely to be his final stand-in appearance for AlphaTauri this weekend in Qatar.
The New Zealander has been deputising for Daniel Ricciardo since midway through the Dutch Grand Prix after the Australian sustained a break to the metacarpal in his left hand in an FP3 crash at Zandvoort.
Lawson has impressed in his quartet of opportunities to date, converting a debut Q3 place into AlphaTauri’s best result of the entire season with ninth place in Singapore.
Despite narrowly missing out on points last time out at Suzuka, Lawson was pleased to execute a strong start, which enabled him to get ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
“The whole Japan experience was good. The week was very, very busy because of more media and events than I’ve ever had to deal with, but it was all pretty good fun, and the weekend itself was also enjoyable,” Lawson reflected.
“For the first time since Zandvoort, I got a good start in the race. I always knew what was missing. It was just about putting the procedure together, which is very different to what I’m used to in Super Formula. It’s good that I’ve done it because it definitely helped, and now I’ll continue working on them to keep doing them well.”
Although Ricciardo returned to the simulator this past week to determine his comeback date, the eight-time race winner has been ruled out of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
However, Ricciardo is scheduled to return at the next round in Austin, leaving Lawson to fill in once more for potentially the final time.
The Kiwi racer is uncertain whether the Lusail circuit will suit AlphaTauri’s AT04 car, having admitted the team struggled through the high-speed sequences at Suzuka.
“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,” he explained.
“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.”
Lawson’s standout displays weren’t enough to land him a full-time seat for 2024, though, with AlphaTauri confirming that Ricciardo will partner Tsunoda next season.
But the Red Bull affiliate insists his ultimate ambition remains to race in Formula 1 and he is determined to round out his temporary stint on a strong note in Qatar this weekend.
“In Japan, the news came public that I’m back to the role of reserve driver next year,” he added. “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.”
