Liam Lawson is back in the Formula 1 paddock this weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix, with him having been spotted in the AlphaTauri garage.
The Kiwi, of course, replaced Daniel Ricciardo whilst the Australian was injured, before dropping back to the team’s reserve role when Ricciardo returned at the United States Grand Prix.
In the five races he completed for AlphaTauri, Lawson was phenomenal, with his standout performance having easily been the Singapore Grand Prix, where he progressed to Q3 and scored points in the race.
What was even more staggering about his Singapore qualifying performance in particular, is that he out-qualified both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
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Despite his heroic performances though, Lawson is back on the bench following Ricciardo’s return, a position he finds himself in for 2024 as well.
Somewhat surprisingly given how well he did for the Faenza-based squad, Lawson wasn’t offered a full-time seat for next season, meaning he’ll continue as Red Bull’s reserve driver for another season.
2025 seems like when he’ll finally receive a full-time seat at AlphaTauri, should Ricciardo be promoted to Red Bull to replace Sergio Perez.
Nevertheless, being back in the paddock but not on the grid has been “tough” for Lawson, who admits that the situation is “extremely frustrating”.
However, the young driver does “understand” why the decision has been made for him not to be on the grid next season, something which he admits makes things easier.
“Now that I’ve actually had the chance to be in it, it’s definitely a different feeling stepping back, now I know what it’s like,” Lawson told the Beyond The Grid podcast.
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“I don’t have to imagine anymore, to actually experience it has obviously been amazing and amazing for my career, but it’s a little bit tough to step back.
“I think what’s potentially helped through each scenario is, yes, it’s extremely frustrating, but I’ve been able to sit there and understand at the time of this decision, why this makes sense. That goes back to De Vries last year.
“At that point, we were having a shocking F2 season and we turned it around at the end, but it was all too late. I had a really good end to the season, I had good testing in F1, but by then the decision was made, so that’s frustrating.”