Franz Tost says ‘fantastic’ 21-year-old with no race seat in 2024 ‘deserves to be in Formula 1’

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Departing AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has admitted that he thinks Liam Lawson is more than deserving of a seat in Formula 1 now.

Tost was speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast and speaking about the many drivers he’s worked with.

The experienced Austrian has already admitted that Yuki Tsunoda is undoubtedly quick but needs to work harder to reach his potential.

He shared that he knew Pierre Gasly wasn’t ready to join Red Bull when he made the step up and was called ‘crazy’ for hiring Max Verstappen.

It’s safe to say that his track record for getting the big decisions right is extremely good.

The talk last year about who was going to be Tsunoda’s teammate going into 2023 with Gasly departing led them to Nyck de Vries, which may be considered a rare mistake from the team.

He was dismissed 10 races into the season, with Red Bull reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo replacing him.

However, when he picked up an injury in Zandvoort, Liam Lawson was parachuted into the car at late notice.

Lawson – who finished runner-up in Super Formula this year – performed brilliantly in his five races in the car.

He did so well in fact that he was the second-highest scoring rookie on the grid ahead of De Vries and Logan Sargeant.

Franz Tost has now suggested that Lawson is more than good enough to earn a permanent seat on the grid.

The 21-year-old has the talent, but like so many drivers are finding at the moment, there simply aren’t enough spots in Formula 1 for them to break through.

Tost says Lawson deserves an Formula 1 seat now

Asked whether the Kiwi should be on the grid, Tost said: “Liam Lawson deserves a race seat in Formula 1. He was put into the car in Zandvoort in very difficult circumstances, wet conditions, dry conditions.

“He was out the first time with a Formula 1 car and with full wet tyres then he had to change to the intermediates.

“And he managed everything without any mistake, very, very good job.

“And I must also say that Liam is much more mature now, you can see that being in Japan has helped him a lot.

“He did a fantastic race in Singapore because it was not an easy track, which means he took the physical training very serious and that way he scored two points, he finished ninth.

“He deserves to be in Formula 1, 100%.”

Even though Tost is leaving AlphaTauri, that team is still the most likely place for Lawson to earn a seat in F1.

The Red Bull group are notorious for being ruthless with their drivers and if Tsunoda or Ricciardo aren’t up to scratch in 2024, then they could be replaced by Lawson.

However, he needs to continue to impress outside of F1 for now until that opportunity arises.