Helmut Marko makes ‘man for the future’ claim after Liam Lawson’s United States GP F1 return

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RB driver Liam Lawson will be delighted with how his long-awaited return to Formula 1 played out at the United States Grand Prix.

Liam Lawson was handed Daniel Ricciardo’s seat at RB for the final six races of the season to determine whether he’s worthy of a seat on the F1 grid in 2025.

What’s more exciting for Lawson is that the seat in question may not be at RB with pressure mounting on Sergio Perez’s position at Red Bull.

Heading into the weekend, all eyes were on how Lawson would cope with the pressure of replacing fan favourite Ricciardo at one of the tracks where he has a huge amount of support.

So much so, that Ricciardo was set to be honoured at the United States Grand Prix before deciding not to attend the race when he was dropped in Singapore.

Lawson was out-qualified by teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the Sprint Race and finished six seconds behind the Japanese driver on Saturday.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Visa Cash App RB F1 Team from team principal to Red Bull relationship

He then set the third-fastest time in Q1 before being asked to help Tsunoda knowing he was set to pick up a huge grid penalty that would see him start last on Sunday.

Helmut Marko spoke after the last to Sky Sports DE after witnessing the Kiwi’s greatness after starting in such a difficult position.

Marko is a massive fan of Lawson and was one of the driving forces behind him replacing Ricciardo before the end of the season.

Now, he’s considering whether a seat at RB is enough for the 22-year-old heading into 2025.

Helmut Marko’s exciting Liam Lawson verdict after the United States Grand Prix

Lawson and Tsunoda started at very different points on the grid but that ultimately ended up benefitting the New Zealand-born driver.

Tsunoda battled Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen in the points during the first stint, but after an early pit stop from one of his rivals, Tsunoda was forced to cover him off.

As Lawson and Williams star Franco Colapinto proved, running long was the optimum strategy, meaning Lawson ended up undercutting his RB teammate.

This left Tsunoda furious on the team radio before he made a mistake going into turn one and spun, while Sergio Perez was once again well off the pace of his teammate, although his car was fitted with an old floor that made his Red Bull overweight.

READ MORE: Who is Visa Cash App RB driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Analysing Lawson’s performance, Marko said: “A really great debut. That was already apparent in Q1, where he drove the third fastest time.

“He was in control at all times and had great overtaking manoeuvres.

“You have to put the youngsters in the car and then it works. He is definitely a man for the future.”

Christian Horner’s positive outlook on Liam Lawson’s return to Formula 1

There are two people that Lawson needs to impress to get his F1 career up and running properly next season: Marko and Christian Horner.

Although Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer are the men in charge of the RB team, Red Bull have full control over the driver decisions for both outfits.

Horner was left impressed with Lawson’s outfit in Austin and would have been left wanting more once again from Perez.

The Mexican driver hasn’t finished inside the top six of a race since the Miami Grand Prix, representing 15 outings including Sprint Races in that time.

For context, Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg have both achieved that feat more recently and Lance Stroll has matched his best finish of seventh.