Red Bull driver driver issues ambitious WARNING to team for 2024

Horner and Ricciardo — Photo: © LAT Images

Red Bull

Red Bull driver issues ambitious WARNING to team for 2024

He wants more from the team next season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 22 August 2023 10:27

Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson has said that he is unsure whether he wants to spend another season in Super Formula, adding fuel to the rumours that he could take Daniel Ricciardo's seat at AlphaTauri next season.

The 21-year-old has impressed in the sport with Team Mugen, sitting in second with just one race to go, still very much in with a chance of winning the championship.

However, Sunday's race at Montegi saw Lawson cause a huge crash whilst attempting an aggressive move on his team-mate and eventually coming home to finish down in 13th.

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Now, speaking to Speedcafe, Lawson expressed his future ambitions.

“The rest of my career depends on how the season unfolds," he said.

"I'll see how the rest of the year goes, and where I finish in the Super Formula championship.

“Nevertheless, this experience taught me a lot of things, in particular there is a much higher level of respect between the pilots in Japan, he continues. In Formula 2 and Formula 3 , we're all trying to achieve the same goal, and we're sort of fighting for one or two seats that rarely make themselves available.

"So it's a bit of a fight without thank you whereas in Super Formula, I'm there with different ambitions from the others. For many of these pilots, this is their full-time career. They have achieved their goal of becoming a professional driver, and usually do both Super GT and Super Formula. For me it's a springboard, so I don't feel in competition with them in a sense."

Potential F1 seat?

Could we see Liam Lawson in F1 next year?

Whether Lawson's performances have done enough to impress the unimpressionable Dr Helmut Marko (leader of Red Bull's young driver programme) remains to be seen.

Lawson's future will, ultimately, be down to Marko, as well as AlphaTauri's decision on whether or not they wish to retain Daniel Ricciardo for 2024.

Could we really see Lawson in F1 as soon as next season?

"To be honest, if I am still fighting at the front, as I am now, I will feel like I have achieved everything, and my first objective is obviously a seat in Formula 1."

Walking away from Super Formula with a title in his pocket will surely increase his stock, and he will go into the last race of the season eight points behind Japanese driver Ritomo Mayata.