Liam Lawson played down the possibility his six-race stint at RB could open the door for him to join Red Bull next year.
The 22-year-old, who made his Formula 1 debut last year at the same team when it was called AlphaTauri, has returned in place of Daniel Ricciardo. Sergio Perez’s poor performances at Red Bull could open the door for Lawson to join the top team if he performs well, but he said he isn’t considering that as a possibility.
“I think that’s very far ahead, honestly,” said Lawson in yesterday’s FIA press conference at the Circuit of the Americas.
“The target or the goal that’s been set out is the same as it’s always been since I was 17 and joined the [Red Bull] programme. It’s all performance-based and that’s basically how they’ll be looking at it.”
He compared favourably against Yuki Tsunoda at the team last year and said his team mate will be his key reference.
“Obviously, Yuki’s done a very good job the last couple of years and especially this year and he’s the benchmark for them to compare me against,” said Lawson. “He’s the only one in the same car as me so I’ll be directly compared with him.
“I guess the goal or the expectation from them is for me to compete alongside him. So in terms of where that sets me out for next year or in the future, I have absolutely no idea. But that’s the target that’s been set out.”
Lawson said his first objective will be to ensure the team holds on to sixth in the constructors’ championship ahead of Haas, who have closed on them in recent races. He hasn’t raced since concluding the Japanese Super Formula championship last year, but had a chance to readjust to F1 performances levels when he did a Pirelli tyre test for Red Bull last week at Mugello.
“It was useful for my neck, honestly,” he said. “We did just long runs, basically. It was good to do, as much as I would have rather go out and do some short runs and push, it was good to do longer runs and basically just get ready for the longer races in Formula 1.”
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2024 United States Grand Prix
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