Liam Lawson is set to spend the year on the fringe of Formula One but that isn't going to faze the Kiwi motorsport star.
After an impressive rise in 2023 that saw him race for AlphaTauri at five Grand Prix, Lawson is hoping the chance is still there to claim a permanent seat as he bides his time as a reserve in 2024.
“Formula One is so advanced from anything else, even as reserve there’s so much to be learnt and so many things that I can basically sort of absorb being track side," he told Breakfast.
"Being reserve, every race I spend doing this will help in the event that hopefully I get to jump back in the car.
“Things change so quickly in Formula One that until, you know, you have a piece of paper that has your name on it that says you’re a driver, it's not worth getting excited about or thinking about, it’s trying to prepare for it.”
Back in New Zealand for a short time, the 21-year-old is launching a new documentary called Liam Lawson – In the Wings, giving fans a glimpse into the garage.
It shows the highs but also the lows as well, the high-pressure moments and the difficult times, as well as capturing the Formula One races.
That roller-coaster included claiming his first F1 points in Singapore, but also finding out he wasn't getting a permanent seat for 2024.
Despite the uncertainty Lawson produced five respectable drives for AlphaTauri, now known as Visa Cash App RB for the 2024 season.
He will be a reserve driver for Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB this season.
"Each weekend was sort of treated as the last one because I never knew if I was going to the following week."
“It didn’t matter what I’d done in the past, this is what I’d be judged on now, these races in Formula One and they need to be as good as possible.
Lawson said it was hard not to hold a grudge after Singapore.
“But what helped was just the workload."
“Looking back over the whole five races that we did it’s hard to remember details, it was just a big blur, it was so busy and so sort of high pressure that that period of year is hard to remember.”
The dream to drive at the highest level again hasn’t faded.
“It's more than it was," he said.
“Having no racing now, it’s sort of a weird position where I don’t have a racing program that I'm going to be competing in this year.
“It’s not like having another shot, my shot was then. Now it’s basically waiting and seeing what happens.”
Starting the season as a reserve driver, there’s no doubt the he will push hard for that permanent F1 seat.
By Breakfast's Lachie McLeod
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