Liam Lawson not convinced by what Red Bull told him about his test sessions this year

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Liam Lawson’s return to Formula 1 always seemed an inevitability. He proved his worthiness for a place on the grid in a five-race stint last year when Daniel Ricciardo was out injured.

Lawson scored two points in just his third Formula 1 race at the Singapore Grand Prix. AlphaTauri, RB’s predecessors, were the eighth-fastest team last season, so this was an impressive feat.

On the back of his efforts, Christian Horner promised Lawson a seat but he was made to wait. RB initially stuck with their line-up of Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, hopeful that the Australian could rediscover top form and replace an underperforming Sergio Perez.

But Ricciardo looked irreparably past his best, and the team felt the long break between the Singapore and US Grands Prix was their last opportunity to make a change. They now have six race weekends in which to evaluate Lawson before settling their 2025 line-ups.

Contractually, Red Bull had to offer Lawson a seat by mid-September or he was free to leave. It’s unclear whether this applied to the 2024 season, or whether a 2025 deal would have been sufficient.

But that matters little at this point. Lawson is no longer a reserve, and he will hope this weekend’s race in Austin launches a long, successful and this time uninterrupted F1 career.

Liam Lawson knew Red Bull were evaluating him, even if they said otherwise

In previous years, Red Bull have deployed Lawson in DTM and Super Formula while he waited for an F1 seat. But this time, they wanted him to focus solely on his reserve driver duties.

Lawson has been present in the RB garage throughout the season but hasn’t featured in any F1 weekends. Instead, his running has been confined to test sessions.

He took part in a filming day after the British GP and also drove the 2022 AlphaTauri car at Imola in the summer. Most recently, Red Bull fielded Lawson in a Pirelli test at Mugello, an effective warm-up for the Austin weekend.

Speaking to the official F1 website, Lawson said the team had tried to play down the importance of his test outings. But privately, he knew he was being examined.

He said: “I haven’t driven much this year so every test I’ve had, although they said it’s not a performance evaluation, it’s just a test – you still know they are judging you.

“When you have only a few opportunities to drive, it makes those tests more important. The team have been good about it the whole year, but after a certain amount of time, it gets frustrating.”

The Liam Lawson result that could be ‘very bad news’ for Sergio Perez at Red Bull

Lawson reportedly ‘underwhelmed’ Red Bull at Silverstone, but if that was the case, it wasn’t costly. He might have made amends in subsequent appearances, or convinced the team with his performances in 2023 instead.

Now Lawson will look to succeed where Ricciardo failed by consistently beating Tsunoda. If he can do that, he’ll be well-placed for another remarkable promotion.

Of course, Perez is still in control of his fate too. Red Bull are bringing major upgrades to the US, which could make him more comfortable in the car.

However, it would be ‘very bad news’ for Perez if Lawson beats him in any meaningful session. And given that the Mexican has failed to reach Q3 six times this year, that’s not inconceivable.