The 2023 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort is a race that Liam Lawson will never forget as he made his debut at three-time world champion Max Verstappen’s home race.
At the start of the race weekend, Liam Lawson had no idea he was about to be thrust into the Formula 1 limelight.
However, in an interview with The Red Flags Podcast, Lawson shared what Max Verstappen told him just before he made his F1 debut.
Liam Lawson shares Max Verstappen’s message ahead of F1 debut in Zandvoort
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Driver changes in Formula 1 appear to be getting less and less common with every driver who drove in the 2023 season finale in Abu Dhabi retaining their seat for this season.
However, there were a couple of changes on the grid last year that came courtesy of AlphaTauri.
Red Bull’s sister team – now known as RB – started the season with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries in the car.
Tsunoda is still with the team and going from strength to strength, but after 10 races, De Vries was dropped for Daniel Ricciardo.
It was a popular swap, but the experienced Australian only raced twice before picking up an injury in the Netherlands trying to avoid Oscar Piastri.
Suddenly, Lawson was thrust into his car at the last minute in Zandvoort and was racing against the likes of Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton after watching them from afar up to that point in the campaign.
The 22-year-old didn’t have much experience in a Formula 1 car up to that point and only had one practice session to prepare before qualifying.
He ended up finishing 13 on his debut, two positions ahead of Tsunoda and went on to really impress during the next four races.
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Liam Lawson took full advantage of unexpected F1 opportunity
Asked about what the other drivers did when he first started racing in F1, Lawson said: “Actually, to be honest, I was quite surprised, everyone was very nice and welcoming.
“Zandvoort especially, there was a couple of guys who were, like Charles [Leclerc] was really, really nice, he was like, ‘Well done on the opportunity’.
“And Max [Verstappen] as well, we share in the European races when we’re in the Energy Station and we share not rooms but our rooms are right next to each other.
“He came into my room before the race and was like, ‘Make sure you enjoy the race and try and remember to enjoy it and not put too much pressure on yourself’.
“And he was really nice about it, which is really, really cool. They’re all pretty good.”
Liam Lawson working towards earning full-time F1 seat in 2025
Lawson’s performance in Zandvoort immediately caught the paddock’s attention but it was his display in Singapore when he out-qualified Verstappen and Sergio Perez that really turned heads.
He had been told just hours before that session that he wouldn’t be offered a permanent seat with the team for 2024 but is still very much in the team’s thinking.
RB’s CEO Peter Bayer has already said that Lawson is the number one candidate should either of his current drivers require replacing.
He’s set to ‘definitely’ be handed a race seat in 2025 which gives Red Bull a very difficult dilemma to deal with.
There have been suggestions that he could replace Daniel Ricciardo before the end of the campaign.
While that seems very unlikely, especially after Ricciardo’s fourth-place finish in the Sprint Race in Miami, all the drivers in the Red Bull roster will be well aware that a very talented driver is waiting in the wings to replace them at the drop of a hat.
The post ‘Came into my room’: Liam Lawson shares what Max Verstappen said to him before his Formula 1 debut appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
