‘Wouldn’t be a standout’… Team CEO admits he needed real convincing to give 21-year-old driver a chance in F1

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AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bayer admits he had to be won over to give Liam Lawson an opportunity with the team.

The 21-year-old Kiwi probably didn’t think he would have five Formula 1 races under his belt at this point in his career, but when AlphaTauri came calling, he drove brilliantly.

Speaking to Speedcafe, Peter Bayer shared how he needed to be convinced of the young driver but the gamble has certainly paid off.

Red Bull typically have one of the most wide-ranging driver academies out of all the F1 teams.

Looking at the Formula 2 grid last season, there were plenty of Red Bull liveries competing at the front of the pack.

Several drivers have since been let go, with Zane Maloney and Enzo Fittipaldi no longer part of the academy.

Liam Lawson drove in F2 until last year before switching to Super Formula in Japan and challenging for the title.

It was such a successful move that Ayumu Iwasa has followed his career path this year.

However, AlphaTauri CEO Bayer has admitted that he needed some persuasion to bring Lawson into the team.

He cited his previous results but a couple of high recommendations ended up changing his mind.

He’ll be glad he did after the Kiwi scored two valuable points for the team in Singapore.

AlphaTauri boss Bayer needed convincing about Lawson

Speaking about the 21-year-old, Bayer said: “For me, the main impulse came through Gerhard [Berger] who said that when Liam [Lawson] was doing DTM he was bloody amazing.

“Gerhard is a big fan of Liam’s racing style. He said, ‘He’s the one. He’s going for the gap, and he’s fast’.

“Helmut [Marko] was also very convinced by his natural speed but Franz [Tost] was initially a bit sceptical. He said, ‘Looking at his results, I’m not sure’.

“If you purely look at the results, he wouldn’t be a standout driver, but he has done a lot of racing, and in different categories, and again and again he was showing there was a spark. Helmut was 100 per cent ‘That’s the guy’.

“Franz, Christian [Horner], and I had a long discussion, and that’s how Liam got the reserve role.”

If Helmut Marko has his mind set on a driver then more often than not he gets his way.

He nearly let Daniil Kvyat go before he eventually ended up driving for the works team in Formula 1.

Bayer will be glad that Marko and Berger convinced him to give Lawson his chance in AlphaTauri.

The Kiwi has been tipped to be back on the grid sooner rather than later and it’ll be interesting to see who might lose out as a result.