After a stint last year, Liam Lawson will make his official competitive debut as a starter. The RB F1 driver will also wear the number 30, the one he used the most in karting in his youth, and which he also chose in DTM when he raced there under the AlphaTauri colors.
Last year, he had the number 40 for his replacement, because it is the assigned number of the third driver of the RB F1 team when he races on Friday or as a replacement. So this time he chose his own number.
Christian Horner, the director of Red Bull, is impatient to see the New Zealander at work, and he expects to quickly see him at the level of Yuki Tsunoda, without this being an insult to the latter. The Japanese will therefore be a real measure against Lawson, as he was against Daniel Ricciardo.
“Last year Liam started and he beat Yuki in Singapore and Japan, he was fast from the start and he’s a tough rider. We know that. He knows how to adapt quickly” Horner said. “The testing he did for Red Bull this year was very encouraging.”
“We know that Yuki is a very fast driver. He can definitely win a lap. He is no longer a beginner. This is his fourth year in Grand Prix, he has a lot of experience under his belt.”
“Taking him as a reference point, we saw with Daniel where he stands compared to Yuki. It will be very interesting to see how Liam performs over the last six races.”
And while Red Bull seems to have struggled in recent years to choose young drivers for its two teams, Horner recognizes that some residents of the Formula 2 championship are perhaps underestimated.
“I find it difficult to read the form in Formula 2 at the moment because when you look at the job that Oliver Bearman did when he jumped into the Ferrari at one of the toughest circuits on the calendar in Saudi Arabia , he looked like a veteran Then against a tough teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, more recently.”
“Franco Colapinto was a total surprise because he went unnoticed in F2, no one was talking about him, then he jumped into the Williams, and in the few races he did he was exceptional, really very impressive.”
“So it’s hard to say whether that means Isack Hadjar, who was beating them all, has taken the next step. Until we give them a chance, we won’t know. The young guys are coming, they have hungry, and they drive very fast.”
“That’s what we’re seeing with all these kids coming in right now, they’re well prepared, they’re running well, they understand how to save tires. Bearman, Colapinto and others have done a great job.”
Lawson won’t start in ideal conditions with a penalty for an engine change, but Horner reckons it will be less pressure for the New Zealander’s first weekend.
“There will be a penalty for the engine anyway, which allows him to have a smooth re-entry, but he will of course be evaluated against his teammate. He was very fast against him last year. I I think Yuki has improved again this year, so it’ll be fascinating to see how quickly he adapts, how quickly he gets going.”
