Revealed: Liam Lawson’s blunt verdict after private Christian Horner meeting
Liam Lawson will remain as Red Bull's reserve driver for 2024 after missing out on a full-time seat
Liam Lawson’s blunt reaction to missing out on an F1 2024 seat has been revealed in the new series of Netflix’s Drive to Survive.
Lawson made his F1 debut in unexpected circumstances last season, competing in five races for Red Bull junior team AlphaTauri – rebranded as RB for 2024 – after Daniel Ricciardo suffered a broken hand in a practice crash at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
The New Zealander excelled during his brief cameo, registering AlphaTauri’s best result of the season at that point by finishing ninth at the Singapore Grand Prix, comfortably beating team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Liam Lawson’s true thoughts on being denied F1 2024 seat exposed by Netflix
That result came after Lawson had learned that he would not be racing in F1 on a full-time basis in 2024, with the decision to retain Ricciardo and Tsunoda communicated to him ahead of qualifying at Marina Bay and confirmed ahead of the following weekend’s Japanese GP at Suzuka.
Lawson will continue as the official reserve driver for both Red Bull-branded teams this year, with the aim of landing a permanent seat for 2025.
A clip in the new series of Drive to Survive, Netflix’s highly acclaimed F1 docuseries, has uncovered the moment Lawson was informed by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner that AlphaTauri would keep Ricciardo and Tsunoda for 2024.
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In a private meeting, Horner tells Lawson: “From your perspective, you’re doing a great job. What you’ve done so far has impressed me, it’s impressed everybody in the team.
“So, they’re going to announce Daniel and Yuki, it goes out in the morning. OK?
“Stay positive, you’ll get your chance.”
Lawson is interviewed immediately after the meeting and, referring to Tsunoda, remarks: “I’ve just beaten the guy who got the seat.
“It was meant to be me.”
Speaking to Austria’s OE24 at the end of 2023, Red Bull’s long-serving advisor Helmut Marko hinted the team could look to field Lawson in some races this year to gain a deeper understanding of his potential before making the offer of a 2025 drive.
Put to him that Lawson is likely to land a seat in 2025, Marko commented: “Yes, and before that he should at least drive a few more races so that we can see where his potential really lies.”
Read next: Conclusions from F1 2024 Testing: Red Bull’s RB20 checkmate, drain cover dramas and more
