Karun Chandhok thinks ‘outstanding’ driver fancies his chances of getting onto F1 grid in 2024

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Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok believes Liam Lawson is gambling on a mid-season driver change in 2024 to get onto the grid.

Chandhok was speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

There was plenty of speculation in the last few weeks about who would be filling the final seat on the grid for next year.

Williams were delaying whether or not to retain Logan Sargeant going into next season.

The 22-year-old only scored one point in his rookie season and that was as a result of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton being disqualified.

However, Williams confirmed that Sargeant would be driving alongside Alex Albon for another year on Friday.

This means that there’s going to be no changes to any team’s driver line-up going into next season, something that has never happened in modern Formula 1.

This will create plenty of frustration for the likes of Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire who are now excluded from driving in F2 because they’ve already won the championship.

Karun Chandhok has suggested that Liam Lawson never really wanted the Williams seat for 2024.

The Kiwi did respond to questions about replacing Sargeant, but Chandhok believes he’s got his eye on a mid-season change within the Red Bull set-up as well.

He starred during his five-race cameo this year when he replaced Daniel Ricciardo and must be thinking he’ll be involved in F1 sooner rather than later.

Chandhok gives Lawson verdict after missing out on 2024 seat

Talking about the 21-year-old, Chandhok said: “[Liam] Lawson, we’ve talked about. I don’t think Lawson will take the Williams opportunity because he genuinely is keeping an eye on the Red Bull thing right?

“What happens, do they start the season with Checo [Perez], if that doesn’t work do they stick Daniel [Ricciardo] in the Red Bull, in which case do they put Liam in the AlphaTauri?

“I think so from Liam’s standpoint he’s going hang on a second, I might take this gamble here and not upset the Red Bull family.

“Because you can’t sign from Williams, even on loan from Red Bull and then leave mid-season.

“So, I think he’s gambling on something opening up perhaps in the early part of next year.

“I think he’s done an outstanding job, he had few opportunities. In Zandvoort, he had done zero laps in the dry, he was about to start his first-ever Grand Prix.

“But he was really cool and calm on the grid and I thought his performance in Singapore in particular, we know now he got told why basically on his way to the garage to get in the car for qualifying that he was not going to be in Formula 1 next year.

“Helmut Marko dropped the bad news as he was about to get in the car for qualifying and he got in the top ten!”

Lawson can afford to be patient, but F1 has a very short memory

As Chandhok suggests, Lawson has done everything he can to earn a place on the grid in 2024.

He exceeded expectations immediately after being thrown into one of the toughest races of the season in the Netherlands.

However, as other drivers have proven in the past, you need to remain relevant to avoid being forgotten about.

Nyck de Vries did this brilliantly, guiding a struggling Williams into the points in Monza to earn a drive with AlphaTauri.

While that move didn’t work out, he didn’t hang around waiting for the right drive before getting into F1.

Lawson’s reputation is at an all-time high at the moment and while he may be eyeing a place in the Red Bull set-up, if another drive becomes available he needs to jump at it.