Formula 1's newest full time driver Liam Lawson is set to make his bow in 2024 with a grid penalty for the sprint race at next month's United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.
Lawson made give Grand Prix starts last season sitting in for an injuired Daniel Ricciardo. He now gets the seat in his own right for the rest of 2024 after RB decided to drop Ricciardo after the Singapore GP.
Unfortunately the number of engine parts that can be used is determined by the car rather than the driver, meaning that Lawson has already reached his maximum allocation for several components this season despite not turning a wheel.
Red Bull motorsports consultant Dr Helmet Marko confirmed that the car will need new parts for the next Grand Prix in October which will mean a hefty grid penalty for his first spring outing with RB.
“The first, I think, won’t be relevant because he has an engine penalty,” Marko told Motorsport-Total.com this week. “Ten places in the sprint race, so that doesn’t exactly make life easier in Austin.”
Ricciardo was right on the limit of a penalty in Singapore, and his team mate Yuki Tsunoda had already taken an extra engine out of his allocation of power units this season.
Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have similarly already exceeded their original allocation of ICEs this season, while McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have yet to do so.
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Half the grid has already taken some kind of penalty for new engine parts this year, and that number is likely further to increase as the season goes on.= with six races remaining on the calendar.
Lawson is aware that he has no time to waste and can't afford to hang around if he wants to make his mark in the season, beginning with back-to-back races in the US and Mexico in October.
"I need to try and obviously show my worth in F1 and I would say do a similar job to what I did last year," he said, recalling his five-race stand-in stint when Ricciardo injured his hand in 2023.
“I need to perform basically, I need to try and obviously show my worth in F1 and I would say do a similar job to what I did last year," he commented. “That’s what’s given me the shot now, is what happened last year.
"I just need to do enough to stay in the seat next year," he added.
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