‘I can’t say no’… Liam Lawson and Felipe Drugovich respond to Williams rumours ahead of 2024 season

Follow us on Google Discover

Liam Lawson and Felipe Drugovich have both responded to the question about whether they could be driving for Williams next season.

Both young drivers were speaking to Sky Sports F1 on the final race weekend of the season.

Nineteen drivers know they’ll be on the Formula 1 grid in 2024, even if Sergio Perez has been under some recent pressure.

The one man fighting for his F1 career is Logan Sargeant and he had a shocker in qualifying yesterday.

He’ll start from the back of the grid after having both of his flying laps deleted in Q1.

James Vowles admitted during free practice that he’s waiting until the end of the season to make a decision on the American’s future and that means the pressure on the 22-year-old today is immeasurable.

Liam Lawson and Felipe Drugovich are two of the most talented young drivers not in F1 right now and must be options Williams are considering.

They’ve both shown this season that they’re capable of driving a Formula 1 car quickly.

Lawson did fantastically well deputising for Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri, scoring two points for the team – more than Sargeant has achieved in an entire season.

Brazilian driver Felipe Drugovich is currently Aston Martin’s reserve driver and finished second in Free Practice 1 on Friday in Abu Dhabi.

Although they’re both signed up to stay with their respective teams in 2024, they’d jump at the chance at a full-time seat in F1.

Drugovich and Lawson respond to Williams seat chances

Asked about whether he could potentially take Sargeant’s seat, Lawson said: “No, not me. If anything like that was going to happen I wouldn’t be the one really having that conversation anyway.

“For me right now I’m locked into reserve next year with Red Bull Racing and I mean I’ve been with Red Bull now for five years, if I’m going to drive with anybody it’s most likely going to be them.

“No [I haven’t texted James Vowles] and if I had I wouldn’t say anything either!”

Drugovich was slightly less cagey with his response and said: “We’re still trying to see opportunities in other championships to keep me racing or whatever.

“As you said, there’s still a seat available but at the moment I’m fully focused to keep doing the job here at Aston [Martin] and trying to find a place here. The team has been really nice to me throughout the whole I’ve been with them.

“If the seat becomes available then obviously I can’t say no to that, I can’t say no to being on the grid next year.

“But obviously, I cannot be focused on that, I need to be focused on the job I need to do here and I think it’s been going really well.”

Sargeant under serious pressure with top drivers queuing up for his seat

Williams may have to seriously consider the likes of Drugovich and Lawson as Sargeant struggles again today.

The American would have comfortably made it into Q2 had he kept his car on the track and his pace is beginning to more closely match Albon’s.

However, while he keeps making small costly mistakes – such as his crash in qualifying in Japan – there are going to be question marks over his long-term future.

Lawson proved he’s capable of immediately jumping into an F1 car and getting up to speed.

Drugovich is in a similar boat and that does give Vowles a difficult decision to make ahead of next season.