Liam Lawson one step closer to Formula 1 with AlphaTauri test, FP1 appearances

Liam Lawson will steer an AlphaTauri Formula 1 car in the young drivers test at Abu Dhabi later this year, team principal Franz Tost has said.

Tost confirmed the news in an interview with Sport1 over the weekend.

He added Lawson’s Formula 2 teammate Juri Vips will be with Red Bull for the post-season test.

“Liam Lawson and Juri Vips will contest the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi,” Tost said. “Lawson with us.”

Lawson is currently eighth in the F2 championship. This year is his rookie season in the category.

He won his debut race at Bahrain and backed it up with an impressive wet-weather victory in Monaco. However, the Monaco triumph was later stripped for a technical infringement.

Lawson is also leading the DTM series.

The young Kiwi’s performances in F2 and DTM this year have caught the eye of several F1 bigwigs.

DTM boss Gerhard Berger has been wowed by Lawson’s impact in the GT3 series, saying he is entirely confident Lawson will race in F1 soon.

There is no room for Lawson to graduate to F1 next year. Red Bull and AlphaTauri have locked in their driver line-ups for 2022.

However, F1 is implementing mandatory Free Practice rookie running beginning next season.

Teams must put young drivers in one of their cars during select practice sessions.

According to Tost, Lawson will be with AlphaTauri for some of those sessions.

Lawson will likely have a second season in F2 next year before he is considered for an F1 seat for 2023.