26 August 2023 , 07:42
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Liam Lawson, who makes his Formula 1 bow this weekend, has won on debut in six racing series already in his fledgling career.
He won't win on Sunday – not even Max Verstappen would get close to doing that in the AlphaTauri. But he does have the chance to make a huge impression while stepping in for Daniel Ricciardo for the rest of the Dutch Grand Prix action.
The Aussie crashed on practice on Friday, choosing to hit a barrier rather than smash into the side of Oscar Piastri's stranded McLaren. It was the correct thing to do, but it came at a cost as X-rays later revealed he had broken a metacarpal in his left hand.
It remains to be seen for how long Ricciardo will be sidelined. What is for sure is he will play no further part in the festivities at Zandvoort creating an opportunity for Lawson.
And that is exactly what it is for the New Zealander. He is the most prominent member of the current crop of Red Bull junior drivers and an official reserve of both the company's F1 teams, while also involved in a title fight this year in the Japanese Super Formula series.
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The 21-year-old is probably the next Red Bull driver to make the step into a full-time F1 seat if an opportunity presents itself. It remains to be seen what AlphaTauri will decide to do for 2024 in terms of their driver line-up, but Lawson now has an opportunity to audition for the part.
Neither Ricciardo nor Yuki Tsunoda currently has a contract for next season. The latter is expected to be given a renewal, having impressed in the first half of this season despite having an uncompetitive AT04 car to race with.
Ricciardo only returned to the grid last month after Nyck de Vries was axed. He is unusual for an AlphaTauri driver in the sense that the team usually prefers to blood younger racers rather than going for more experienced veterans, but he was the best option at the time when the decision was made to dispense with De Vries.
As it stands, the most likely outcome seems to be that the Aussie will continue with the team in 2024. Ricciardo was certainly confident of that as he sat down with Mirror Sport in the Zandvoort paddock on Thursday, prior to the crash which has put him out of action.
But as we saw last year when De Vries filled in at Williams for the Italian Grand Prix, a surprise F1 debut can be a springboard to earning a race seat if things go well. Lawson might only have one race to impress or he may fill in for a few Grands Prix. Either way, he has an opportunity to wrestle that place on the grid away from Ricciardo.