Can Yuki Tsunoda spoil Liam Lawson’s Red Bull dreams?
Liam Lawson's hopes to secure a seat at Red Bull could be thrashed by Yuki Tsunoda in the last six races of 2024.
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Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda (images via IMAGO)
Liam Lawson will replace Daniel Ricciardo for the final six races of 2024. The Kiwi driver was forced to sit on the sidelines this year. Now, Lawson now has the opportunity to make his case for a seat alongside Max Verstappen. However, Yuki Tsunoda could put brakes on the 22-year-old’s ambitions.
Lawson made his mark in F1 last season when he filled in for an injured Daniel Ricciardo. The 22-year-old even outqualified Max Verstappen at Singapore GP last year. Yet, the Kiwi driver had no seat in F1 for this season.
Now, Liam Lawson has finally got a real chance to showcase his talent to Red Bull. The Kiwi driver could even find himself replace Sergio Perez as early as next season. But, for such a move, Lawson must first manage to outperform Yuki Tsunoda by a significant margin in all six rounds.
Yuki Tsunoda won’t make things easy for Liam Lawson
Liam Lawson is not the only driver under Red Bull’s watch for the remainder of the season. Helmut Marko has made it clear that Tsunoda is also in contention for Perez’s seat. As such, the two RB drivers are essentially in a shootout against one another.
Yuki Tsunoda has changed in the past two seasons. The Japanese driver has become more mature and consistent. The Japanese driver has even outperformed ex-Formula E champion Nyck de Vries as well as Daniel Ricciardo. So much so, that Tsunoda’s performances ended the F1 careers of the two.
As such, Liam Lawson cannot take the 24-year-old lightly. The Kiwi driver must manage to push himself to the limit while avoiding mistakes throughout the six rounds. If Lawson fails to match Tsunoda on pure pace, Red Bull will not think twice about changing its plans for the 22-year-old
Certainly, Lawson has what it takes to race against Yuki Tsunoda. However, pressure will be on the Kiwi driver as Tsunoda is the one who has raced the VCARB-01 throughout the season. Fans would be looking forward to seeing how things pan out for the two drivers at the Faenza-based squad at the next race in Austin, Texas.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2331 Articles Published)