“Any time you drive in F1, it’s an audition”: Latest rookie Liam Lawson is not backing down from a fight after making his AlphaTauri debut

AlphaTauri driver Liam Lawson, who deputized for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at the chaotic Dutch GP, bagged a 13th-place finish in his maiden F1 start. As Ricciardo continues to recover from his injury, Lawson will be back in the spotlight this weekend at the Italian GP.

With both seats at AlphaTauri up for grabs next season, the New Zealander wants to put his name in the mix for a full-time role. He told Planetf1.com:

“Any time you drive in F1, I guess it’s an audition for full-time. Whenever you get put in the situation, you get one shot, you don’t get to do this again”

Ironically, Nyck de Vries aced his audition exactly a year ago in the Italian GP to get his seat in F1. Liam Lawson now occupies the same seat, hoping to make an impression on the top bosses at Red Bull and Alpha Tauri to confirm his spot on the grid for 2024.

The racer is not on the same trajectory as De Vries as he went through a baptism of fire in his debut race. He managed to finish ahead of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in his maiden start, running a clean race without much practice.

Liam Lawson in the Italian GP

Ahead of the second F1 start, the New Zealander has some time to prepare, unlike the hurried call-up he received last weekend at Zandvoort. The 21-year-old aims to take the weekend one session at a time, avoiding any stress about his future.

“I’m just looking at it race by race right now. It’s just this weekend. It’s all I’m doing and that’s what the whole focus is on. Right now the focus is on FP1 and then beyond that for the rest of the weekend. So yeah, definitely not looking too far ahead at the moment.”

With Ricciardo's return not confirmed, Liam Lawson might get more starts and will try to make every opportunity count.

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Liam Lawson's former rival Oscar Piastri praises him for a stellar debut

Former rivals Liam Lawson and Oscar Piastri shared the grid during the Dutch GP, with the latter full of praise for the debutant. The McLaren rookie, who is himself learning the ways of F1, complimented Lawson for doing well under difficult circumstances.

Piastri was quoted by GPToday:

"My compliments to him. He did well, despite all the obstacles that faced us. We used to race against each other, and he has always been a tough opponent. I don’t think he could have had a more difficult debut race."

The two will once again share the grid for the Italian GP, scheduled on September 3.