Liam Lawson’s maiden points in Singapore in just his third grand prix appearance have proven the Kiwi rookie has what it takes to become a Formula 1 mainstay.
Lawson scored AlphaTauri’s best result in more than a year with a ninth-place finish at Marina Bay, having qualified inside the top 10 for the first time in his career and his first visit to the challenging Singapore street circuit.
The 21-year-old has been very impressive in his three races substituting for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, who broke his hand in seven places in a practice crash at the Dutch Grand Prix last month.
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The Kiwi’s improvement trajectory has been exponential since his Saturday call-up at Zandvoort, where he did well to bring the car home in one piece in treacherous mixed-weather conditions.
By the next race in Italy he had attained his first Q2 qualification and finished within seven seconds of his first point in 11th place.
In Singapore he qualified for the top-10 shootout — ahead of his more experienced teammate, Yuki Tsunoda — and raced to a pair of points by finishing ninth.
It’s the best result for any of Tsunoda’s teammates this season and the highest finish for AlphaTauri since last year’s Italian Grand Prix.
Fox Sports Pit Talk co-host Mat Coch said Lawson’s rapid improvement in form marked him out as a top-tier Formula 1 driver deserving of a full-time drive.
“Liam Lawson in his third grand prix has given AlphaTauri its best result of 2023 around arguably the toughest circuit of the year, certainly the most physically demanding,” Coch said. “That’s an incredible result for a guy that got parachuted in, had never driven that car prior to free practice three at the Dutch Grand Prix.
“That’s incredible, absolutely incredible. This kid is a superstar.”
Lawson’s arrival has put Red Bull’s driver program into a spin, with the Kiwi, Ricciardo and Tsunoda all hoping to secure one of AlphaTauri’s two seats for next season.
Outside of the Faenza team, only Logan Sargeant’s seat at Williams remains uncommitted for 2024.
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Coch said the pressure was back on Tsunoda to justify his place.
“I can’t see Yuki Tsunoda there next year because — I’ll go there — Daniel’s a lock-in for that. And for Liam — how could you ignore this performance? A guy that’s been there for three years is being outshone by a guy that’s been there for three minutes. Phenomenal stuff.
“It’s a really good problem for Red Bull to have. It creates some really interesting dynamics there when we’re getting towards the back end of the year.
“[Ricciardo] will come back at some point, but what do they then do with Yuki? If he’s not going to be there next year, we’ve seen what they’ve done to Nyck de Vries.
“If they don’t see a future there, do they persist with him for the rest of the year?”
Pit Talk host Michael Lamonato said it was too early to write off Tsunoda given the extenuating circumstances of his last two races, which have been affected by a technical non-start and a crash outside his control.
“To be fair to Yuki, in the last two races he’s not really raced,” he said. “In Monza he didn’t even make the start and [in Singapore] he was punted out of the race pretty early.
“You’ve got to feel a little bit bad for him because it doesn’t feel like he’s able to defend himself.
“I say this not to take any of the sheen off what Liam Lawson’s done, because I completely agree they’ve been superb performances — the best result the team’s had so far — but we haven’t been able to actually measure him against Yuki Tsunoda.
“For all we know Yuki could’ve finished seventh or eighth. It seems unlikely, but it’s hard to say that for certain.”
But Lamonato agreed that Lawson has proved he’s clearly ready for a full-time shot in Formula 1.
“It would be a travesty at this stage if Liam Lawson doesn’t have a contract signed for next year, because if he doesn’t, what else do you have to do to get a seat in Formula 1?” he said.
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Lawson’s junior career has been strong without being spectacular, having won races in Formula 2 on his way to second in last year’s championship. He’s won three races in his maiden Super Formula campaign this season, in which he’s second in the title standings.
But his body of work since arriving in Formula 1 has proven that results in the lower formulae aren’t always an indicator of F1 quality.
“I speak of him in the same breath as Oscar Piastri, because I think Oscar is also destined for greater things,” Coch said. “He needs the right opportunities of course and he needs to keep on the straight and narrow, but should he and Liam do that, they’re two phenomenal drivers from our part of the world.
“If you’re a Kiwi fan, go out and buy your Liam Lawson caps now, because you can say you were there when he started, because it’s so impressive.”
Lawson will almost certainly get a fourth grand prix under his belt this weekend in Japan, with Ricciardo likely to return in either Qatar or — as appears increasingly likely — Austin for the United States Grand Prix.
Speaking after scoring his maiden points, the Kiwi eschewed the opportunity to bask in his achievement, instead turning his attention to maximising his chances in Suzuka.
“The starts are really not good enough; I need to sort that, because that’s two weekends in a row I’ve lost a couple of spots off the line and it just makes our life more difficult,” he said. “That’s definitely the target for the future if I’m back in the car.
“It‘s positive but, honestly, I’m just trying to maximise this. I have this short window to show something in Formula 1 and I’m just trying to make the most of it.
“It’s great, today’s fantastic, but now the mindset’s onto the next one if we’re driving again.”