(Motorsports news) Lawson replaced the injured Daniel Ricciardo for five races, gaining his maiden points at the Singapore Grand Prix with the best Sunday result for any AlphaTauri driver this season. However, with Ricciardo poised to return for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, the New Zealander’s brief tenure with the team ended on a poor note with a first-lap incident in the Qatar sprint and a low-key run to 17th – the last of those to finish the race – in the grand prix on Sunday.
Lawson will be in his regular reserve role at the US GP, but he will miss Mexico to compete in the Super Formula doubleheader finale at Suzuka. He is now second in the championship, eight points behind the leader Ritomo Miyata. When asked, how essential it was for Lawson to conclude his Japanese season as champion, he answered, “It’s very important.” Extremely important.
“Obviously, I believe it has the potential to have a significant impact on my career, especially given how this weekend has gone. I’ll be there.” And then I’ll head to Japan for our final Super Formula event. So between now and then, I’ll simply be preparing for that and, of course, working with Red Bull. I think obviously you want to go out on a high,” Lawson said, admitting his disappointment at finishing his time with AlphaTauri on a low note. “So this is going to be difficult to finish.”
I believe that is simply something we must address. “The first couple of races went really good, we were building up, and then this week, I think we just struggled. I think, as I said, the races were going pretty well up until this point, but this definitely doesn’t help,” he added. To finish my run of races like this, I think it’s really upsetting.”
Lawson may find solace in Christian Horner’s words, who stated unequivocally that the Kiwi will be given another chance. “I think he’s done a great job jumping in with zero mileage in the car,” Red Bull CEO stated. “He’s also done well as a grand prix driver.”
