AlphaTauri recently confirmed their 2024 drivers line-up in Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, after Liam Lawson has been a replacement for an injured Ricciardo, igniting the discussion over who deserves the seat.
After the sacking of Formula 2 and Formula E champion, Nyck de Vries, from the second AlphaTauri seat after 10 races, the Italian team opted to bring, reserve, Ricciardo in to let Liam Lawson get on with his own Super Formula campaign in Japan.
However, fast forward two races, Ricciardo breaks his hand in Free Practice two in Zandvoort and requires surgery, forcing the Red Bull sister team to call upon Liam Lawson to compete until Ricciardo is recovered.
Lawson jumped into the car on the Saturday of Zandvoort, qualifying in last place but competing in a race with the most extreme conditions. The 2023 Dutch Grand Prix consisted of unpredictable weather with rain pouring down, difficult strategic decisions and even a red flag. Yet, the Kiwi didn’t let this faze him and he gained seven positions to finish the race in 13th.
In the two races Ricciardo competed in he achieved a 13th place finish and a 16th, not achieving any points. Whereas Lawson has competed in four races, finishing: 13th, 11th twice, and a ninth scoring two points.
Raising the question, who is the right driver for the seat?
I continually believe the young drivers deserve a chance in Formula 1 to prove themselves and that’s exactly what Liam Lawson has done, yet it hasn’t been good enough to secure a seat for the following year.
On the other hand, I also acknowledge with an unpredictable AlphaTauri why the team would like to have an experienced driver to help themselves understand the car that little bit more.
If you compare the two drivers, they couldn’t be in any more different points in their careers if they tried.
Daniel Ricciardo, who had McLaren cancel his contract after struggling against Lando Norris while trying to recover to his peak talent when with Red Bull racing, achieving third place in the drivers championship twice.
Liam Lawson, who lost out on the 2021 DTM championship due to his opposition crashing into him twice on the final weekend while in the lead, and was third in 2022 Formula 2 champion but was still unable to get a seat in Formula 1 and now has the opportunity of his life.
Leaving Franz Tost and Helmut Marko with an extremely difficult decision to make. It’s becoming increasingly hard for young drivers to get into F1, especially when the Red Bull Junior Programme has a whopping 11 drivers all fighting for four seats; and a Max Verstappen, who doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon.
