PALMER: What impressive Liam Lawson needs to do next to prove he deserves a full-time race seat in F1


Liam Lawson has been doing a superb job in the AlphaTauri car since he debuted in Zandvoort, scoring points in Singapore and giving Red Bull a headache about their 2024 line-up. I want to see what Lawson can do in a straight duel with Tsunoda now, and I'm sure the team do too.
Three races in to the Kiwi driver’s Formula 1 career and he’s already doing much better than I expected. That’s not to say that I didn’t rate him, but he didn’t arrive in Formula 1 with the kind of trophy-laden junior career of an Oscar Piastri for example, and he stepped into a tricky car in the most difficult of circumstances in Zandvoort, taking over from Daniel Ricciardo on the Saturday after the Australian injured his hand in Friday practice.
Next Up
Related Articles
F1 Fantasy strategies for China and Japan
Exploring fashion star Zhou Guanyu's style journey
What tyres will the teams and drivers have in China?
How to stream the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix on F1 TV Premium
Natalia Granada completes the 2026 F1 ACADEMY grid
Ferrari to run innovative ‘flip-flop’ wing in China
