The key differences between Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo’s decisive Red Bull test drives

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Liam Lawson will test Red Bull’s RB20 at Silverstone in what is being billed as a decisive test to determine whether he replaces Sergio Perez mid-season.

The drive has drawn similarities to Daniel Ricciardo’s last year in which the Australian was used in a post-race tyre test to evaluate if he could replace Nyck de Vries at Visa Cash App RB to secure his F1 comeback after six months on the sidelines.

This time Perez faces the axe after underperforming in the last five races, scoring just 15 points compared to Max Verstappen who scored 119. It is a stark contrast and one that has largely been self-inflicted for the Mexican.

For Lawson, the test is an opportunity to claim his right to the seat, having impressed as the stand-in for the stand-in when Ricciardo broke his wrist and had to sit out five races.

F1 teams face heavy restrictions over what they can and cannot do during tests in-season. However, there are some key differences to the test that Ricciardo took part in compared to Lawson.

Liam Lawson’s Red Bull test compared to Daniel Ricciardo

Lawson will be utilising Red Bull’s promotional event allocation in the F1 Sporting Regulations – known as a ‘filming day’ – and are defined as days that can be used “purely for marketing or promotional purposes” in the regulations, which is primarily designed to allow teams to film content for rights-free use.

Red Bull already used the first of their two per-year in February with Verstappen and Perez pre season, with Lawson set to utilise the rest of the 200km running. This would be 33 laps of Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit or 67 laps of the International layout.

READ MORE: Who is Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

The main difference between Lawson and Ricciardo’s test is the tyres. Whereas the Australian could use up-to-date compounds that the teams race with, Lawson will be restricted to using Pirelli’s ‘Academy’ tyres which is a different specification.

The FIA must be informed about the test along with all the teams before it takes place, with observers from each team also allowed to attend if they wish.

This is not the same as what Ricciardo did last year, as Red Bull exploited the in-season Pirelli tyre test to gauge his performance. The rules allow for Pirelli and the FIA to organise test to evaluate current and future tyre compounds, but teams are not allowed to use software to gather “any sort of information” unrelated to the tyre test.

Daniel Ricciardo’s test easier for Red Bull evaluation

As Ricciardo had the full use of Pirelli’s current tyre lineup available to him, it was a much more useful test to evaluate his driving compared to what they will get with Lawson.

The team could draw comparisons to its drivers in the race that took part only days before with the like-for-like data they gathered, which is what justified the swift switch between Ricciardo and De Vries prior to the summer break.

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For Lawson, it is not a huge amount of mileage for him to cover but with an understanding of the offset between the Academy and race tyres it should give Red Bull the opportunity to gauge his performance.

It should give the team an idea of how he handles the RB20 first-hand, as it is known for being a tricky car to set up and drive due to its ‘pointy’ aero platform.