F1 pundit admits ‘remarkable’ 21-year-old is ‘doing much better’ than expected

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Jolyon Palmer has admitted that Liam Lawson is ‘doing much better’ in Formula 1 than he had expected when Red Bull chose him as Daniel Ricciardo’s stand-in at AlphaTauri.

The 21-year-old has delivered some impressive performances through his short time on the Formula 1 grid of late. Lawson scored his maiden points in F1 at last week’s Singapore Grand Prix with P9. In doing so, he became the first rookie to claim their first points at Marina Bay.

Lawson even qualified in the top 10 at the Singapore GP at the expense of Max Verstappen. His phenomenal final flying lap in Q2 dumped the two-time F1 champion out of the session in P11. Verstappen impeding Yuki Tsunoda denied the other AlphaTauri driver his fast Q2 lap.

Liam Lawson has exceeded Jolyon Palmer’s expectations in Formula 1

The Singapore GP marked Lawson’s third round as an F1 driver after replacing Ricciardo at short notice in the Netherlands. He stepped in on the Saturday morning at the Dutch GP as Ricciardo was unable to continue after he fractured a bone in his hand during a crash in FP2.

Yet despite his lack of seat time, Lawson came through from the back of the grid to finish in P13. He weathered the unpredictable conditions before moving on to Monza and qualifying P12 at the Italian GP. The Kiwi only missed out on a first points finish by six seconds, as well.

Marina Bay then brought the best out of Lawson as he pushes to secure a full-time drive for the 2024 F1 season. His Singapore GP performance has also now seen Palmer laud Lawson for exceeding expectations ahead of what may be his last race this year at the Japanese GP.

Palmer has told the official F1 website: “Three races into the Kiwi driver’s Formula 1 career and he’s already doing much better than I expected. That’s not to say that I didn’t rate him.”

What capped Palmer’s initial expectations was that Lawson stepped in for Ricciardo in ‘the most difficult of circumstances’ at Zandvoort. He also did not arrive in F1 with the same sort of ‘trophy-laden junior career’ as the likes of 2020 F3 and 2021 F2 champion, Oscar Piastri.

Lawson fought for many titles through his junior career but only has two titles in his cabinet. He dominated the 2016/17 NZ F1600 Championship Series and won the 2019 Toyota Racing Series. He was the runner-up for the 2017 Australian F4, 2018 ADAC F4 and 2021 DTM titles.

Jolyon Palmer thinks the AlphaTauri driver is ‘remarkable’

But Lawson has eclipsed what Palmer felt was possible from Ricciardo’s interim replacement at AlphaTauri. The 2014 GP2 – now called F2 – champion admired his ‘accomplished enough drive’ at the Dutch GP before the New Zealander presented his case for a full-time F1 seat.

“Monza was a decent opportunity on a much simpler track that suited the car a bit better,” Palmer added. “He duly delivered a rounded performance, just missing out on points. But, for me, Singapore was the big test of this young charger’s talents.

“It was over the sweaty, arduous Grand Prix weekend of Marina Bay that I think Lawson has really cemented his status as a legitimate contender for a 2024 seat. Singapore is arguably the hardest race on the calendar. Physically, it’s brutal.

“Lawson’s qualifying performance was heroic, knocking out 2023 champion-in-waiting Max Verstappen in a dramatic Q2 finale and earning a top-10 starting berth. Delivering in the race was the more impressive feat, though, because of the aforementioned challenges.

“The sheer endurance he displayed in such a gruelling race with strategy and pit stops in play – especially for somebody who hasn’t been getting regular F1 seat time this year – was remarkable.”