Liam Lawson caught the eye in 2023 when, without prior notice, he was called in to replace the injured Daniel Ricciardo during the Dutch Grand Prix. His stay extended until the Qatar Grand Prix and he even managed to score points.
Despite his good performances, the New Zealander did not have a place in the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team for this season, with the decision being to keep Yuki Tsunoda and Ricciardo – who replaced Nyck de Vries halfway through last year after his dismissal.
Now, it may be the Australian facing a similar scenario. His performances at the beginning of 2024 have been below expectations, and despite his greater experience, he has not been at the level of his teammate.
In Japan, he retired shortly after the start after being involved in an incident with Alex Albon (Williams/Mercedes) – being slow off the line, which Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko attributed to the hard tires.
Giedo van der Garde commented on the DRS De Race Show podcast that Ricciardo may have his future at risk: ‘If this continues, it will take a few more races like this and then Liam Lawson will be in that car. Things will happen quickly’.
According to the former driver, Ricciardo is not showing himself at the level of Tsunoda: ‘He is nice and a very good driver, but now we see that he is a bit short against Tsunoda. He was also a bit short against Max [Verstappen] and a bit short against Lando Norris’.
