Liam Lawson has opened up on how it has been a “frustrating” experience to not be competing in Formula 1 in 2024 following his standout appearances last season.
Lawson was handed the chance to make his F1 debut last term when Daniel Ricciardo was ruled out of action with a broken metacarpal from a crash at Zandvoort.
In similarities comparable to Oliver Bearman in Saudi Arabia a week ago, the New Zealander was thrown into the deep end with one practice hour ahead of qualifying.
But Lawson delivered a mistake-free run amid adverse conditions and then capitalised on AlphaTauri’s resurgence to secure his maiden points with ninth in Singapore.
However, Lawson was overlooked for a full-time place with Red Bull’s rebranded second squad for this season, with Ricciardo retaining his drive alongside Yuki Tsunoda
“Obviously, it gives you confidence in yourself,” he told Speedcafe when discussing his quintet of outings between the Dutch and Qatar Grands Prix during last season.
“Every driver, at this level anyway, has enough self-belief to be in Formula 1 – you have to have it even to come close.
“But it’s different because obviously I always imagine what it would be to [like] drive in Formula 1.
“Now I know what it’s like. It’s a different perspective. I’ve had the smallest little taste of it, yeah, so it’s a different perspective. It definitely makes it more frustrating.”
Both Ricciardo and Tsunoda are battling to secure an extension to their RB contracts, with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko hinting that Lawson is in line for a promotion.
Ricciardo is angling to take Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull, but the Australian has been warned that he must improve following an underwhelming opening to the season.
“He just has to be patient and his time will come,” Marko told Newstalk ZB.
“We already have a contract with Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda, and also with Daniel Ricciardo which goes till the end of 2024.”
Despite Marko’s apparent promise, Lawson has divulged that he has been handed no guarantees over his position within the Red Bull stable generating an F1 drive.
“Honestly, there’s no set timeline for my future,” he revealed. “There’s nothing set in stone, obviously, with my future.
“Basically, for me, it’s about staying ready and hopefully, we have some opportunity coming.”
The FIA regulations since 2021 have enforced that each of the 20 drivers across the 10 teams must give up an FP1 session for a rookie at some point in the season.
However, a rookie is defined as a driver who has no more than two grand prix starts to their name, meaning that Lawson will be ineligible to represent Red Bull or RB.
Although he is exempt from sampling the RB20 or VCARB01 unless he is selected as an entrant for a select weekend, Lawson admits “I still feel like a rookie” in F1.
Regarding what his plans are for the current season, Lawson added: “It’ll basically be mostly simulator work, and then going to all the races with the team as reserve.”
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