Liam Lawson guarantees himself a permanent seat in F1

RB Formula One Team driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand, 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Opinion - The performance of New Zealand driver Liam Lawson on his return to Formula One should have secured his future in the sport.

Lawson finished ninth in the US Grand Prix in Texas on Monday to pick up points for his RB team.

That alone is an impressive result as he started the race 19th on the grid following a grid penalty for his team.

But his performance in qualifying on Sunday probably made Red Bull principal Christian Horner smile the most.

Lawson was third quickest in Q1 behind championship leader Max Verstappen and Ferreri's Charles Leclerc.

That proved that he had lost nothing while away from racing and that he was quick.

"I just wanted to show them what I could do," Lawson said after the race.

Lawson was competing in his first F1 race since the short stint he had with the team last year.

The way the 22-year-old managed his race in Austin was also impressive making the most of incidents ahead of him while also completing some impressive overtakes.

The RB team went with a one stop strategy for him and he managed his tyres well to keep his place in the top ten.

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During the US Grand Prix race commentator and former F1 driver Martin Brundell said Lawson had shown enough to be considered for the likely vacant seat in the top Red Bull team next season.

Verstappen's current team-mate Sergio Perez has not shown enough this year to warrant a return in 2025 despite him being contracted until the end of 2026.

There has been speculation that Perez will announce his retirement after this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix.

That opens up a seat in the Red Bull top team and Lawson has to be a leading contender to move up from sister team RB and take it.

Current team-mate Yuki Tsonoda has done well this season picking up 22 points to be 12th in the drivers championship standings and while he is contracted to RB for 2025, he is yet to show his bosses that he can go to the next level.

Valterri Bottas, Franco Colapinto, Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo are all in a group without a drive for next year, while F2 prospect Isack Hadjar is another to be considered.

However F1 is all about moving forward and not back and it seems logical that Red Bull will want a youngster with ambition and aggression.

Lawson had five races for the team (then called Alpha Tauri) in 2023 and finished ninth at the Singapore Grand Prix.

He then decided to become the Red Bull reserve driver in 2024 and not compete in the Super Formula competition in Japan.

He has now repaid the faith put in him and Red Bull needs to make the most of this young talent and put him in their most competitive car.

"I know they (the team) have an expectation on me but at the end of the day I have an expectation on myself as well to do a job. I want to stay in Formula 1 and have a full time seat next year and these races are my key to doing that."

New Zealand motorsport analyst Bob McMurray, who spent time in F1, believes if Perez continues to struggle and Red Bull hope to remain in the chase for the constructors championship then Lawson could swap with Perez for the last couple of races of the season.

Things won't always go his way, but Lawson has shown he can be a contender in F1.

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