Liam Lawson will make a return to the Formula One grid for the final six races of the 2024 season, replacing Daniel Ricciardo for the VCARB team.
But this won’t be Lawson’s first time in a Formula One car for a Grand Prix, in fact by the end of this stint, he will be double figures for races started.
But that’s not why we are here, let’s take a trip down memory lane and see how Liam Lawson climbed the F1 ladder.
Born on the 11th February 2002 in Hastings, New Zealand but raised in Pukekohe, Liam Lawson began his karting career at the age of seven.
He would compete in various series during his karting days with success in 2012 when he won the CIK Trophy of New Zealand Challenge Cup — Cadet class.
2014 would see Lawson claim two karting titles in his home country and he would graduate from karting into single-seater racing the following year, mentored by three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner, Ken Smith.
2015 would see Liam Lawson make his single-seater debut in the Formula First Manfeild Winter Series, taking a race win on his way to a second place finish.
The New Zealand Formula First Championship would be the next Championship for Lawson to tackle, where he would take a race win along with three podiums. He would finish the Championship in sixth place, while claiming the rookie of the year title.
Then in 2016 it was the turn of the New Zealand F1600 Championship Series, with the team being called Liam Lawson Motorsport. 15 races, 14 wins and a podium in every single race would see the future F1 driver claim the title with 605 points.
Then he would cross over to new territory, with the Australian Formula 4 Championship with Team BRM. Five wins and 12 podiums in the 21 races of the series was a valiant effort for the rookie, who would end up taking the runners-up spot.
After taking part in the Victorian Formula Vee Championship and the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout in 2017 along with his Aussie F4 campaign, Lawson would switch his attention in 2018 to the ADAC Formula 4 and the F3 Asian Championships.
In F4, he was competing with Van Amersfoort Racing, taking three wins and three poles on his way to a second place finish in the Championship. In his Asian F3 campaign, Lawson would finish 8th overall after competing in three races and taking three wins after only taking part in the final race weekend.
Then it was time for the FIA Formula 3 Championship, a campaign which Lawson embarked on with MP Motorsport. He would finish his debut season in 11th place, taking two podiums along with way. He would also compete in the Macau Grand Prix, finishing seventh.
The same year, 2019 he would also take part in the Euroformula Open Championship with Motopark, taking four wins on his way to second in the Championship. However, he would taste victory in the Toyota Racing Series, taking five wins on his way to the title.
2020would see Lawson compete in the FIA Formula 3 Championship once again, this time finishing in 5th place, including three wins and one pole position. He would also compete in the Toyota Racing Series once again, this time finishing in second to Igor Fraga.
The following year, Lawson would make the step up to FIA Formula 2 with the Hitech Grand Prix team, finishing ninth in his debut season, including taking a race victory and a pole position.
The same year he would compete in the DTM Championship for the Red Bull AF Corse team, taking three race wins and four pole positions in the 16 races to finish in an impressive second place, losing out on the title by three points.
2022 would be the year that Lawson became the official test and reserve driver for both the Scuderia Alpha Tauri and Red Bull Racing teams. He paired this duty with another season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, this time with Carlin.
It was an impressive season, finishing third in the Championship behind Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire.
In 2023, he would step away from Formula 2 and turn his attention to the Super Formula Championship, pairing this with reserve duties in Formula One once again. However, when Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand during Friday practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, Lawson made his Grand Prix debut, replacing hte Australian driver.
With limited track time he would qualify in 20th and despite getting a 10-second penalty for impreding Kevin Magnussen in the pits during the race, Lawson would finishin in 13th place, an impressive result given his limited preparation.
An 11th place finish in Italy would be backed up by scoring his first and only F1 points to date with a ninth place finish in Singpare before taking 11th in Japan and 17th in Qatar.
But once his stint in Formula one was done, his attention turned back to the Super Formula Championship where he missed out on the title with a second place finish.
Then in 2024, Lawson would be on the sidelines again until an announcement came following the Singapore Grand Prix that he would be replacing Daniel Ricciardo at the VCARB team for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Will Lawson get a seat for the 2025 season, well it would appear likely but wheter it is with the VCARB team or even an early promotion to Red Bull, that will all depend on how he performs in the final few races of 2024.