Liam Lawson burst onto the Formula One scene at the Dutch Grand Prix, deputising for the injured Daniel Ricciardo.
In the last four races Lawson scored points and beat his teammate Yuki Tsunoda but was ultimately snubbed for a full-time AlphaTauri seat next year, in favour of the former duo.
Tsunoda will go into his fourth season with the Faenza based, Red Bull affiliated outfit with his ‘undoubtful natural talent and constant improvement,’ touted for his retention. While 34-year old Ricciardo, who was brought in mid-season to replace the underwhelming Nyck De Vries, will have his experience treated as ‘precious assets,’ by the team for 2024.
Leaving 21-year old Lawson relegated to a reserve and third driver role for both Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, while the Hastings born Kiwi still has the Japanese Super Formula championship to contest in which he is currently second.
(Photo by Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
For any team in motorsport, experience is key to car development and AlphaTauri as the outfit sitting last in the constructor’s championship, needs plenty of it to climb back up the pecking order. However, the team in its previous guises as Toro Rosso and pre-Red Bull buyout days as Minardi was always known to train up rookies and young drivers.
From that perspective, the 2024 AlphaTauri lineup looks underwhelming. Tsunoda, despite having improved over time – has never been in any rational or realistic conservation about future Red Bull Racing drivers. And Ricciardo? He did it almost a decade ago, then decided to split when the grass was greener at rivals Renault and not have to contend with playing second fiddle to Max Verstappen.
After all, a prized or potentially poisoned chaliced seat at Red Bull could be opening up for 2025, with the under-fire and psychologically forlorn Sergio Perez’s contract up at the end of next year. Not that Lawson would be suitable enough a candidate to take over as early as 2025, but at least he should be in a Formula One car as soon as possible to begin his apprenticeship.
This poses a greater question about the young drivers being brought into the sport by teams such as AlphaTauri and Red Bull. De Vries; the then reigning Formula E world champion was hot property after the Monza weekend in 2022, standing in for the unwell Alexander Albon at Williams and scoring a point on debut.
So much so, that off that great sample offering Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko was convinced they had their next AlphaTauri driver. It was quite comical overall, how short lived it was as De Vries was brutally sacked ten races into 2023 – though nothing on Marko making the call initially. At least the Austrian octogenarian is at last digesting some accountability for his vile discourse towards Perez.
(Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Though, what was wrong with Lawson then? He’d finished third in F2 in 2022 behind the high-rated Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire and as the top Red Bull junior driver. And while it is preposterous enough that neither of those two have Formula One seats yet, the pathway was clearly there for the Kiwi to step up.
Instead, like the eventual champion Drugovich and 2023 F2 standings leader Pourchaire for Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo Sauber respectively, Lawson will be donning the headset on the pit-wall as reserve driver. As well as getting the token young driver’s FP1 outing, as mandatory for all teams in Formula One.
Arguably, Red Bull should’ve and should still now be lobbying to loan Lawson out to the likes of Williams – who took on Logan Sargeant, the driver that finished a point behind the Kiwi in F2 last year. The American has had a mare of a rookie season in F1, though had been spared the brutal public criticism due to De Vries’ presence on the grid.
Sargeant was never driver cut in the same mould as Drugovich or Pourchaire and even Lawson, who in his junior formulae days had not the consistency to be on their level. But instead he’s jumped into an F1 car and demonstrated he has what it takes, like other great F2 alumni such as the famed top three of 2018 who all graduated to Formula One.
Why then, when there is notable talent that has come from FIA sanctioned feeder series’ are rookies such as De Vries or even talk of putting IndyCar drivers in an AlphaTauri the preference?
It speaks to a problem in the pathway that needs addressing, and says the Red Bull junior programme is broken.
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