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How did Liam Lawson perform against Yuki Tsunoda in 2023?
Liam Lawson has returned to Formula 1. The Kiwi has taken Daniel Ricciardo's seat for the remainder of the 2024 season. Lawson has previous F1 experience, as he filled in for Ricciardo in 2023 after the Australian broke his wrist in practice for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix. Remind yourself how Lawson performed in his short F1 stint here. We've also compared his results to that of teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
The first race Lawson competed in last year was the Dutch Grand Prix. Ricciardo's crash happened during the second free practice, so Lawson only had one free practice session before qualifying for his first F1 race.
How did Liam Lawson perform during the 2023 F1 season?
His first qualifying wasn't the smoothest. Lawson qualified in last place, P20. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, started in 14th place. During his first race, Lawson demonstrated some quick driving in difficult conditions. The New Zealander finished ahead of his teammate in thirteenth place, and Tsunoda finished fifteenth in the race.
The next race was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Ricciardo had not yet recovered, and Lawson filled in once again. In qualifying, Lawson was a lot closer to Tsunoda than he was in Zandvoort. Lawson qualified in 12th, with Tsunoda in 11th. Technical problems prevented Tsunoda from starting the Italian Grand Prix. As a result, Lawson automatically moved up one place and finished in eleventh place. An impressive result for just his second Grand Prix.
This was followed by the Singapore Grand Prix. Lawson beat teammate Tsunoda significantly in qualifying. The Japanese driver qualified in fifteenth place. Lawson landed in Q3 for the first time, qualifying in tenth place. Tsunoda crashed out on the first lap of the race, but Lawson scored his first F1 points and finished in a respectable ninth place.
At Tsunoda's home race, he performed better than Lawson in qualifying. Tsunoda finished ninth, getting through to Q3. Lawson started the race from 11th. During the race, Lawson managed to overtake Tsunoda on the track. The two finished in 11th and 12th, just outside the points.
Lawson's last Grand Prix was in Qatar. Because it was a sprint weekend, the Kiwi had just one qualifying session on a new track. Therefore, Lawson finished 18th place in qualifying. On the other hand, Tsunoda qualified 11th. During the race, Lawson finished in P17, and Tsunoda dropped to fifteenth place.
Liam Lawson has definitely shown his worth in just five Grands Prix. He scored two points for the team and beat his teammate Yuki Tsunoda several times. A setback for Lawson is that he will most likely face a 10-place grid penalty at his first Grand Prix in Austin, however.
This article was written in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden
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28 September 2024
