Lawson looks forward to taking over Perez: 'Then I'll learn from the best'

Speaking to GPblog and other media present at Abu Dhabi, the young new zealander states that he is yet to be informed about what he will be doing next year. In the meantime, his focus is solely on doing his best this weekend at Yas Marina.

"Honestly, it's the same as normal. It's about focusing on the weekend and of course doing your best. After the weekend, I will more or less have a clearer picture of what I will do next year", said Lawson, who does expect to learn more about his future soon. "To be honest, I have absolutely no idea. I hope to know personally soon, of course, but I trust the team will do the right thing and I'm sure they won't let it take too long".

"Honestly, it might be more frustrating next week if I don't know. But right now, because we're still racing, we're at the end of another triple header. It's been so busy that I haven't really had time to think about my frustration about whether or not I'm in a seat. I have so many other things on my mind with these races that my head is really on that", stated the New Zealander, once again reaffirming his focus can't be on anything else other than the Abu Dhabi GP race weekend.

Is Lawson ready for F1's toughest job?

VCARB is currently in a tough fight for P6 in the Constructor's Championship, an uphill battle, particularly after Pierre Gasly's 10 points haul in Qatar last Sunday, which put the Italian based team back by 13 points to Alpine. "Honestly, it's not something I'm thinking about right now. This weekend is very important. We are fighting for the highest possible place in the constructors. And that's where my focus is. That's what we are looking at as a team right now".

"Other than that, of course my goal is to drive at Red Bull Racing in the future. But I have no indication or feeling when that might be. If that opportunity presents itself one day, I think I will be ready. But right now I'm focused on this weekend".

The Austrian team's boss, Horner, has refferred to being Verstappen's teammate as the toughest job in F1. Is Lawson up to the task? "It would obviously be the biggest challenge to go up against Max, but in a way it is also the best place on the grid to be in. You learn directly from the best. You have access to his data every session and you see exactly how he is performing".

"For me as a driver who has entered Formula 1 and is developing, this is the best possible situation. It's obviously what I would like because when I have that data, I get better"

The VCARB driver has said in the past that he has developed a good relationship with 4 time World Champion given his role as reserve driver with both his current team, as wel as Red Bull. In his time with the Milton Keynes' based team, he claims to have seen how Verstappen works. "I think so. Through the last few years as a reserve. I was also a reserve for Red Bull Racing and spent time in both garages. Some races I did for Red Bull, others for VCARB and I spent a lot of time with both teams. So I've spent a lot of time with Max and obviously seen how he works," Lawson concluded.

After Abu Dhabi, Helmut Marko, advisor for Red Bull, has said that the team's top brass will hold an evaluation meeting to decide on what their driver lineup looks like heading into 2025. It is expected that Sergio Perex will be dropped in favor of Lawson, and that F2 title contender, Isack Hadjar takes the vacant spot at VCARB next to Yuki Tsunoda. 

This article has been written with assistance from Sandy van Wjingaarden

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