How repercussions from the 2023 Dutch GP are being felt stronger in 2024

What happened at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix weekend?

Daniel Ricciardo fractured his hand during the second free practice session at Zandvoort. It was immediately clear he would not continue the weekend, and AlphaTauri [now known as VCARB] put Liam Lawson in the car for his debut. The New Zealander was, at the time, in the middle of a campaign in the Japanese Super Formula. He had completed the mandatory practice sessions in Formula 1 but nothing more.

It was always going to be a tough challenge with just 60 minutes of practice and very little experience elsewhere in a Formula 1 car. The wet weather and mixed weather conditions experienced in both qualifying and the Grand Prix only made the challenge harder.

Lawson qualified in last place but wasn't too far behind Valtteri Bottas. But in the race, Lawson made ground. With the help of a Yuki Tsunoda penalty, the New Zealander ended up beating his teammate on debut. He made a positive impression on a day when it was so easy to crash the car given the tricky grip levels. Ricciardo wasn't able to recover, so Lawson retained the seat for four more events. He finished just shy of the points (11th) in Italy, reached Q3 and scored points in Singapore, and almost scored points in Japan (11th). It was a very positive set of races for Lawson. 

How Lawson put Red Bull in a tough situation

Ricciardo returned for the United States Grand Prix after recovering from the injury. He also retained his seat for 2024. But at the time, Horner admitted it created a headache. Lawson was very close to getting himself a deal.

"He's certainly turned heads and given us plenty to think about, in particular following his Singapore drive. So he's doing everything possible to justify a case for a full-time drive, but unfortunately, three into two, doesn't go," Horner said in September 2023.

Why the repercussions are stronger now

This created a problem for Red Bull: They now have a tried-and-tested driver, albeit one who has won just five Grands Prix to his name. The bigger picture? Sergio Perez is drastically underperforming in the Red Bull seat. The Mexican has even dropped back to seventh place in the World Championship, 19 points behind Lewis Hamilton. 

He had a chance to prove himself in Belgium when he secured a front-row grid spot. But he just dropped backwards in the Belgium Grand Prix and ended up last out of the front runners. At the start of the summer break, Christian Horner told his team at the factory that Perez will remain in the seat alongside Verstappen when the summer break resumes. 

The other options were Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson. Perez and Red Bull know that there is a proven substitute due to Ricciardo's crash at Zandvoort in 2023. If Red Bull do decide to pull the trigger at some point, they can use this evidence.

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