Top Kiwi motorsport prospect Liam Lawson has had an impressive day in Abu Dhabi during end-of-season Formula 1 testing.
Lawson was picked by F1 outfit Alpha Tauri to drive their car on the Yas Marina Circuit and finished second fastest on the time sheet after 125 laps.
The 19-year-old was buzzing after the experience.
“What an amazing day,” Lawson said. “It’s incredible how unbelievably fast these cars are.
“I’ve obviously driven in the simulator before and when I’m there I always think that there’s no way that the car can actually be that quick in real life, but it really is.
“This has been something that I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid so it’s just incredible and I’m really, really happy.”
Lawson left New Zealand to pursue a motorsport career when he was just 16 but has gone from strength to strength since.
He has slowly made his way up the ranks with his performances, earning a place in Formula 2 this year where he had a top-10 finish in his debut season.
However, the jump from F2 to F1 was still significant, Lawson said.
”I was definitely nervous pulling out of the garage for the first time, I tried not to show it, but I definitely felt it,” he said.
“It took me a little while to get to full throttle but when I did I thought holy moly that’s a lot of power.’
“The biggest difference is just the downforce, there’s significantly more than anything I’m used to. We worked on a lot of different things in the run plan today, both short and long runs with different tyres and one thing that was really cool and new to me was the live data.
“The ability to have the team update me as I’m out on track was something new to me. Getting feedback from Yuki too was also really great, we’ve been teammates before, so it was good to get his understandings and learnings and it was nice to be back driving with him again.
“I really didn’t want to get out of the car today, it’s been amazing to get my first taste of F1.”
Alpha Tauri's chief race engineer said he was impressed with Lawson's ability to adapt quickly, as he predicted a bright future for the Kiwi teen.
"After just the first couple of runs he had built up the pace to a level where we could start to complete some test items with him, to give him a feel of the car with a variety of car balances,” Eddolls said.
“We did the tests blind so that he had no preconceived ideas, and his technical feedback was targeted, focused on performance and aligned to the test items.
“Tyres are an important part of Formula 1, especially managing them over a race stint but also a single timed lap, so we exposed Liam to a variety of tyre status, run types and fuel loads.
“By the end of the day, he was able to manage and manipulate the temperatures to achieve the optimum lap time. It was a pleasure working with him and we can already see from this short working relationship that he has great potential and will have a very bright future in motorsport.”
Lawson told 1News prior to the testing he just wanted to make the most of the opportunity.
Liam Lawson is driving for F1 outfit Alpha Tauri in their end of season testing at Abu Dhabi. (Source: 1News)
“It's basically everything I've thought about and worked towards since before I could talk,” Lawson said.
“I’m gutted it's only one day but I'm going to make the most of it, that's for sure.”
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