Red Bull F1 trains Liam Lawson "Super Formula is important for deciding my future"[F1-Gate.com]

Red Bull F1 development driver Liam Lawson is hoping to show results in Super Formula to convince Red Bull to give F1 a chance to win an F1 seat for Scuderia AlphaTauri in 2024. .

Liam Lawson, who finished the 2022 FIA-F2 season in 3rd place, has not been filled into the vacant seat at Scuderia AlphaTauri.

In 2023 he will be sent to Japan for martial arts training and will participate in the Super Formula of Team Mugen.

It has been five years since Pierre Gasly won the Toro Rosso F1 seat after finishing second in Super Formula. Since then, no driver has equaled Gasly in Super Formula.

Liam Lawson will enter the Super Formula season aged 21, the same age as Pierre Guthrie at the time. Just as Gasly was Naoki Yamamoto’s teammate in 2017, he will face Honda’s top driver Tomoki Nojiri, the Team Mugen champion.

Liam Lawson is trying to persuade Red Bull bosses to secure a seat for AlphaTauri F1 in 2024 and he doesn’t underestimate the scale of the job at hand. In fact, he’s been following the Japanese series since fellow New Zealander Nick Cassidy won the title in 2019.

“The most important thing I realized from watching Super Formula is how good the local drivers are,” said Liam Lawson.

“Just because you’ve raced in F2 or been involved in F1 doesn’t mean you’ll do well straight away when you get here. In fact most people didn’t, not even Pierre, the first few races. I was struggling.”

“And from my experience in testing, I know it’s really difficult. In testing, the top 10 were all Japanese riders. So it’s important to make the process as quick as possible.”

Liam Lawson got his first taste of a Super Formula car during post-season rookie testing at Suzuka earlier this month. It was Team Mugen’s sole focus as the team chose to conserve resources and only run one car.

Liam Lawson completed a total of 138 laps over the two days under the guidance of the race engineer, and his best time was a second off the pace. The mood was calm on day two, but our first impressions of Team Mugen’s Liam Lawson were good and we both agree.

“The squad is really impressive,” said Liam Lawson.

“It’s a slightly bigger team than I’m used to working with in Formula 2. Everyone is very focused and professional and have been very welcoming and supportive since I’ve arrived.”

“I was impressed with the speed of the mechanics. They were making very complex changes that we don’t normally do in the same session. When they explained things to me, they were clear and detailed.”

The language barrier and resulting communication difficulties are often cited as one of the biggest barriers faced by ‘foreign’ riders arriving in Japan, but according to Liam Lawson, Team Mugen have plans to do so next season. to prevent this from happening.

“Honestly, it hasn’t been as bad as I expected so far,” added Lawson.

“Everyone I work closely with can speak English and the team did a really good job of being able to explain things to me. If it’s too difficult to explain in words, it can be clarified by drawing graphs or charts.”

Inevitably, sharing a garage with Tomoki Nojiri means Liam Lawson will take on the reigning champion.

“He’s under pressure, but you can learn from the best. It’s great,” says Liam Lawson.

“We are in a great team and in a great position to play against Nojiri, but I will learn a lot about the machine. Having access to the witness data is huge for me.”

“At the Suzuka test he was completely open to anything I asked of him. He even took a walk around the track with me which was nice. But he gave me some pointers about Suzuka, it’s important for me to go to a completely new track and I need it as much as possible.

For Liam Lawson, there has never been a better time to enter Super Formula, which introduces a new car from 2019. Sure, the Dallara SF23 is just an update of the current SF19, but huge aerodynamic changes and new tires Yokohama provide a reset which makes the previous data practically useless. However, it is a double-edged sword and Team Mugen could lose their lead.

“The new aerodynamics could be a good thing. We’ve been testing the F1 and the floor is becoming more important in terms of creating downforce > that’s the direction the car is going,” said Liam Lawson.

“In this respect it could be positive and we hope we can bring something to the team.”

“I’ve driven a lot of different cars, not just single-seaters, but also DTMs, so I think I can get used to the new cars quickly. I think I can adapt quickly to tracks, like the ones in my country[Nuovo Zealand]it’s an old-fashioned circuit, but you can’t test the car outside of the official sessions, so the work on the simulator will be very important.”

Liam Lawson is clearly relishing the chance to prove himself in Super Formula, especially after two frustrating seasons in Formula 2. Red Bull appreciate Super Formula and know that a performance like Gasly’s could greatly enhance his transition to F1.

“One of the most frustrating things is that the difference between F2 cars and F1 is that F2 judges your suitability for F1. Super Formula is closer to F1 and we all know that. So that will probably be the most important part to determine my future.”

Red Bull F1 motorsport adviser Helmut Marko hasn’t set foot in the Super Formula paddock since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but will visit Japan at some point.

Asked by Helmut Marko if he has any specific goals set for him, Liam Lawson said: “It’s the same every season… you have to fight for the championship.”

“But for me I just want to win. My goal is to go to F1, but I also want to do well in this championship.”

Red Bull have chosen Nick de Vries, seven years older than Liam Lawson, to replace Pierre Gasly at Alpine in 2023.

When asked if Super Formula will be a one-year programme, Liam Lawson said: “It’s very likely.”

“But the good thing is that I’m a little older, because in New Zealand I was able to start racing cars at 13.”

“I’m 20 and I’ve already spent two seasons in Formula 4, two in Formula 3 and two in Formula 2. And now I’m in Super Formula, so I’m very lucky in that respect. But at the same time, this year is very important for my career”.