It’s confirmed, what we already knew – Lawson returns to F1

Liam Lawson will, again, strap himself into a Formula One car and take to the grid of his sixth Grand Prix. Finally, it has been confirmed by Red Bull Racing that he will replace the beleaguered Daniel Ricciardo for the remaining of the 2024 season with the Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team.

Ahead of him, for 2024, will be six more Grand Prix starting with the USGP (21 October) – including a Sprint Race, a week later the Mexican GP (28 October), then the Brazilian GP (4 November) – including a Sprint Race, and back to the US for the Las Vegas GP (24 November). Lawson competed at the Qatar GP 12 months ago and this year it will take place 2 December – – including a Sprint Race, before the final race of the season at Abu Dhabi.

There is no real reason why Lawson won’t excel in the six races ahead. He certainly made an impression on the F1 paddock after his very successful F1 debut having replaced Ricciardo who broke his wrist in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August 2023. He went on to race in five GPs’, gaining his first F1 points after finishing ninth in the Singapore Grand Prix.

***Liam Lawson will join Yuki Tsunoda driving for the RB F1 Team***

Having won both the 2019 TRS title and the NZ Grand Prix, Lawson headed to Europe to contest both the Euroformula Open Championship and the FIA Formula 3 Championship as a Red Bull Junior driver. By July 2021 he was to drive the 2011 Red Bull RB7 at Goodwood and then become a F1 test driver for Scuderia Alpha Tauri in 2022.

Two seasons in both the FIA F3 (2019 & 2020) and F2 (2021 & 2022) Championships and a successful result from the 2023 Super Formula Series in Japan set him up for his eventual and sudden Formula One debut with Scuderia Alpha Tauri at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, filling in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo. With limited practice time, Lawson qualified 20th and finished 13th, ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda, in what is now regarded as an impressive debut in difficult changing weather conditions.

For 2024 he has been in the wings as a reserve driver for both Red Bull Racing and RB Formula One teams, waiting for his next F1 opportunity which is finally here.