How Liam Lawson is grabbing his shock F1 call-up with both hands – and impressing his Red Bull paymasters

Liam Lawson’s sudden arrival into F1 might have spooked many drivers, but the Kiwi has a habit of making immediate impacts…

Seven days before his sudden elevation to Formula 1, New Zealand’s Liam Lawson was clambering out of his Team Mugen car after sparking a multi-car pile-up at the start of Round 7 of this year’s Japanese Super Formula Championship.

READ MORE: ‘I don’t think I can settle for anything less’ – Lawson targets 2024 race seat after ‘very rare’ F1 chance with AlphaTauri

After a car rebuild and a restart, the Red Bull junior limped home in 13th place, his worst result of a standout rookie season, featuring three wins and enough points to be just one place behind championship leader Ritomo Miyata.

Still, there’d be plenty of time to lick his wounds and reset the following weekend as he flew west to fulfil his usual quiet weekend role of reserve driver at both Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri.