How Red Bull replacement driver Liam Lawson talks about his future, what his role is in Formula 1 and why he doesn’t want to miss Super Formula
“Of course I want to race,” says Liam Lawson. But because that won’t work out in the 2024 Formula 1 season, he is forced to come to terms with the fact that, as a substitute driver for AlphaTauri and Red Bull, he will at least always be on site, albeit in a passive role. “It’s never nice, but I’ll try to make the best of it, as I have done so far,” assures Lawson.
After all, a Formula 1 opportunity came out of the blue for him in 2023: following Daniel Ricciardo’s injury at the Dutch Grand Prix, Lawson suddenly found himself in the car as AlphaTauri’s new regular driver. And Lawson is now preparing for just such a scenario in the 2024 season.
But that is not his own wish, Lawson emphasizes: “As much as I would like to be in a race car, Red Bull has decided what is best for me at the moment. They want me to be one hundred percent focused on being ready at all times.”
That is probably why the energy drink brand is not sending Lawson to another championship at the same time, such as the Japanese Super Formula in 2023. Lawson only narrowly missed out on winning the title there. “That’s the main reason I’ll miss the racing series,” he says. “I would have liked to have done that, but it is what it is now.”
This is the second time in his career that Lawson has narrowly missed out on overall victory: in 2021, he lost the DTM drivers’ title due to an accident at the final weekend that was not his fault, and in 2023, he says he lacked the consistency to triumph in Super Formula.
However, he does not want to miss his time in Japan: “Without Super Formula, I would certainly not be as ready for Formula 1 as if I had made the step up from Formula 2 straight away. Because there are many similarities between the Formula 1 simulator and the car in Super Formula. That played a key role for me.”
“Because if you’re looking for the next step, Super Formula is a big challenge, but for me it was the bridge to Formula 1. “
