Liam Lawson says he’s been advised to match Yuki Tsunoda to safe himself a full-time seat in Formulation 1 in 2025.
Crimson Bull made the choice to drop Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of this season and change him with Lawson at RB, with the New Zealander making his first begin of the yr this weekend at the USA Grand Prix. Lawson says the dedication is just for the remaining six races to this point, and that he nonetheless has to earn the spot alongside Tsunoda subsequent season.
“It’s fairly easy,” Lawson advised RACER. “The kind of goal that was set is to mainly carry out within the seat. They need me to clearly match Yuki, and that’ll give me my finest shot at having a seat subsequent yr, however it’s all the time being evaluated.
“They might even say that you just’re going to be racing subsequent yr, but when I don’t do a very good job subsequent yr, then clearly they’re not going to place me within the automobile. And it’s all the time simply going to be like that.”
Lawson impressed throughout 5 races standing in for the injured Ricciardo final yr, and he doesn’t really feel any added stress on account of elevated expectations following these outings.
“It’s positively not how I take a look at it,” he mentioned. “Even should you’re an skilled driver, even should you’ve had a fantastic season, should you go into a brand new season — even a brand new race weekend — we’re all very short-sighted on these things. And when you have a fantastic race weekend, that’s superb, however you mainly begin once more subsequent time, and we’re all the time being evaluated.
“It’s all the time going to be like that, regardless if it’s my first six races, or if I’m 5 seasons in and I’m going into one other season. For those who’re not doing a very good job, then you definately’re going to be judged — by the workforce particularly — by your efficiency.
“It’s the identical as final yr. The one distinction is I a minimum of know that I’m getting the six [starts]. Final yr, I didn’t know what number of I used to be going to do. But it surely’s all performance-based, and it all the time can be. So I assume the earlier I notice and settle for that, the higher off I’ll be.”
Whereas Lawson is clearly the frontrunner for a full-time seat in 2025 – workforce principal Christian Horner even hinted he might be within the body for a Crimson Bull drive if required – there are additionally choices within the Crimson Bull junior ranks rising in direction of F1, with Isack Hadjar the most probably different. The French driver is presently second within the Formulation 2 standings, 4.5 factors off the lead, and has accomplished three FP1 outings already.
