Red Bull Eyes Fresh Talent: Liam Lawson Emerges as Potential F1 Contender
Jul.6 - Dr Helmut Marko has singled out two contenders to potentially replace the struggling Nyck de Vries - and Mick Schumacher is not one of them.
It comes after outgoing AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost was already overruled in his desire to sign Schumacher late last year by Marko - who subsequently admitted he may have got the de Vries signing wrong.
In the meantime, 24-year-old Schumacher - as 2023 Mercedes reserve - recently tested not only the current Mercedes, but also a 2021 McLaren this week at Portimao.
But Red Bull's Marko is also apparently not keen on bringing Daniel Ricciardo back to F1 in struggling Dutchman de Vries' place at AlphaTauri.
"We have two drivers ready to compete in Formula 1," Marko told Servus TV. "Liam Lawson and Ayumu Iwasa.ayumu
"We are closely following the development of de Vries," the 80-year-old added.
21-year-old New Zealander Lawson, currently a frontrunner in the Japanese series Super Formula, appears to be the frontrunner.
He was Red Bull and AlphaTauri's reserve driver on site in Austria last weekend.
"The Super Formula races have big gaps between them so I can use the time here in Europe for my simulator work at Red Bull," he told Speed Week this week.
"I can then be at 50 percent of the Formula 1 races. Living in Japan would be too difficult for that," Lawson added.
However, he admitted he has "no idea" whether he is a candidate to be promoted to Formula 1.
"But I'm well prepared if I get the call," said Lawson. "Friday sessions are not fixed at the moment but I very much hope something will come at some point."
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He emerged as a candidate already after his maiden Super Formula win in Fuji three months ago.
Otherwise, while Iwasa has done decently well in F2 & could also be a viable option, Lawson is definitely the most realistic replacement choice for De Vries, given his performance level in SF & greater single-seater racing experience.
Liam Lawson gets my vote! He has both the talent and the youth to make a good career in F1. A good steady and fast driver.
Iwasa is also very good, but lacks the depth of experience of Lawson. I also think he is sometimes a bit impetuous with some of his racing moves. Although, so was Max in his early years!