How Lawson stayed afloat in his sudden F1 debut

By:

Jake Boxall-Legge

Aug 29, 2023, 1:41 PM

Liam Lawson's Formula 1 debut was a sudden affair that dropped him into a very difficult set of circumstances. But the Kiwi driver rose to the challenge valiantly, making no fool of himself as he got to grips with the AlphaTauri at the Dutch Grand Prix

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Amid the early Dutch Grand Prix media sessions, Daniel Ricciardo felt that his surprise Formula 1 return in Hungary had been straight in at the deep end. A day in a Red Bull RB19 and a handful of time in AlphaTauri's simulator served as his preparation as a replacement for Nyck de Vries - the Dutchman ousted at AlphaTauri following the British Grand Prix.

If Ricciardo's return was in at the deep end, Liam Lawson's F1 debut was like being airdropped in the middle of the Atlantic without a floatation device to hand. The news that Ricciardo had broken his metacarpal in a Turn 3 crash in Friday's second practice session, while trying to evade Oscar Piastri's crashed McLaren, prompted fleeting suggestions that de Vries might be pressed back into service.

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Jake Boxall-Legge

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Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.