Liam Lawson is set to replace Daniel Ricciardo from the Austin Grand Prix, but his debut will be marred by a major setback—a 10-place grid penalty in the Sprint Race.
The penalty stems from using Ricciardo’s power units, as the Australian driver had reached the limit of his engine allocation.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko acknowledged the challenge Lawson faces, describing the first race as nearly inconsequential due to the penalty. He explained to the media:
“The first [race], I think, won’t be relevant because he has an engine penalty.
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“10 places in the sprint race, so that doesn’t exactly make life easier in Austin.”
Lawson, whose impressive performances from last year earned him this opportunity, now has six races to prove his mettle. Speaking about his upcoming 2024 debut, Lawson explained:
“I’ve basically got to the end of the season and then I’ll find out more as the season goes on. So at this stage, it’s the six races.
“I need to perform [to keep the seat] basically, I need to try and obviously show my worth in F1 and I would say do a similar job to what I did last year.
“That’s what’s given me the shot now, is what happened last year. So I just need to do enough to stay in the seat next year.”
Lawson also released a video following the announcement that he would be replacing Ricciardo at VCARB. He commented:
“Very excited to say that I’ll be driving in the car from Austin. It’s obviously a massive opportunity, a dream come true for me so, I want to say thank you to the team for this opportunity. I want to say thank you to you guys [the fans] for the support as well. It’s a lot of work ahead, but I’m looking forward to getting into it and I’ll see you guys in Austin.”
VCARB team principal Laurent Mekies has welcomed Lawson to the team, stating:
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam. He already knows the Team well. He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it’ll be a natural transition. It’s great to see young talent from within the Red Bull family make the next step. We’re looking forward to getting our heads down and focusing on the rest of the season together.”
The New Zealander has not signed a contract with VCARB for the 2025 season, so he now has the final races of 2024 to prove that he is worthy of the spot alongside Yuki Tsunoda next year.
