“To jump in mid-season would be extremely difficult.” This is what Liam Lawson said to Speedcafe when news broke that Daniel Ricciardo would replace Nyck De Vries at AlphaTauri mid-season. But how did the young New Zealander come into the picture? When De Vries’ performances took a turn for the worse, Lawson was in contention for his seat. After Ricciardo’s appointment, though, the young Kiwi expressed how he was glad Ricciardo got the role because he’d have had to work double-time to get up to speed with Yuki Tsunoda. Well, now he has no choice but to do exactly that.

Formula 1 resumed its circus at the Dutch GP after the summer break. In the challenging layout of Circuit Zandvoort, Ricciardo fell prey to an unavoidable accident in FP2, fracturing his left wrist and writing himself off for the rest of the weekend. Red Bull and AlphaTauri called upon their reserve driver, Lawson, to fill in for the experienced Aussie. In light of Lawson’s F1 debut alongside Tsunoda, a past conversation between the young guns came to light, featuring none other than seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

Talking on a Twitch stream, Tsunoda gave Lawson a breakdown of how intimidating it was to join F1 in 2021 and have to race against the sport’s all-time greats. He explained how he said “Hi” to Hamilton at the Drivers’ Briefing in Bahrain and how nervous that made him. Lawson responded, “[Hamilton] is also like the guy, when we were both growing up, he was obviously really in Formula 1. It’s crazy that you’re actually racing against him.”

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The Kiwi continued, “It’s like I couldn’t imagine racing against Lewis Hamilton.” Considering Hamilton is in his 17th F1 season, not many drivers in the younger generation who grew up watching him would’ve expected to race against the champion in their career. But fortunately (or unfortunately) for Lawson, he’s getting this chance. By the looks of it, this weekend might not be the only time he goes up against Hamilton.

Will Liam Lawson have to fill in for Ricciardo at the Italian GP?

Following McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s crash at Turn 3, Ricciardo realized a little too late that Piastri was in his line and had no option but to crash into the wall. In doing so, he didn’t let go of the steering wheel fast enough and injured his left wrist. After the freak accident, Ricciardo struggled to get out of the car and was immediately taken to a local hospital. After running X-rays, it was determined that the Aussie had broken his metacarpal bones and couldn’t get back into his car for the rest of the weekend.

A metacarpal fracture usually takes three to four weeks to heal completely. Given that the Italian GP is next weekend, the likelihood of Ricciardo competing in Monza looks bleak. If the fracture doesn’t heal in a week, AlphaTauri and Red Bull will have no option but to ask Lawson for his services again. Considering these are the only chances he might get to race an F1 car before his official call-up, there’s no doubt he’d want to grab the opportunity with both hands. 

As difficult as a mid-season step-in will be for Liam Lawson, this is his time to prove he’s worth the risk. How do you think he’ll fare at the Dutch GP?

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