Red Bull has confirmed Liam Lawson will drive Max Verstappen’s car during the first practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tomorrow.
Verstappen has to sit out tomorrow’s opening hour of practice in order for Red Bull to comply with new regulations introduced for this season which requires them to run an inexperienced driver in each of their cars in at least one session over the course of the season.Sergio Perez sat out first practice for the Spanish Grand Prix in May. Juri Vips drove his car but was dropped as Red Bull’s test and reserve driver the following month after using a racial slur during a live broadcast.
Lawson was installed as Vips’ replacement and has driven in practice for AlphaTauri twice already this year, though he did not cover the 100 kilometres required to score an FIA superlicence point on either occasion. He will also compete in this weekend’s Formula 2 round at the circuit, where he lies seventh in the standings.
Five other teams will also fulfil their requirement to run two junior drivers over the season this weekend. Pato O’Ward will make his first appearance in an official F1 session at the wheel of Lando Norris’ McLaren. Another debutant, Felipe Drugovich, will be at the wheel of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.
Robert Shwartzman will take over Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Ferrari, Jack Doohan will drive Fernando Alonso’s Alpine and Pietro Fittipaldi will run in Mick Schumacher’s Haas.
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F1 teams’ mandatory junior driver practice schedules
| Team | Event | Driver | Event | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | French Grand Prix | Nyck de Vries | Mexican Grand Prix | Nyck de Vries |
| Red Bull | Spanish Grand Prix | Juri Vips | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Liam Lawson |
| Ferrari | United States Grand Prix | Robert Shwartzman | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Robert Shwartzman |
| McLaren | United States Grand Prix | Alex Palou | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Pato O’Ward |
| Alpine | Mexico City Grand Prix | Jack Doohan | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Jack Doohan |
| AlphaTauri | Belgian Grand Prix | Liam Lawson | Mexican Grand Prix | Liam Lawson |
| Aston Martin | Italian Grand Prix | Nyck de Vries | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Felipe Drugovich |
| Williams | Spanish Grand Prix | Nyck de Vries | United States Grand Prix | Logan Sargeant |
| Alfa Romeo | Bahrain Grand Prix | Zhou Guanyu | United States Grand Prix | Theo Pourchaire |
| Haas | Mexican Grand Prix | Pietro Fittipaldi | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Pietro Fittipaldi |
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bull mello (@bullmello)
17th November 2022, 20:21
Red Bull to hand car over to Lawson for first practice session
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
17th November 2022, 22:40
No. Verstappen is the one pulling the strings at that team.
Duncan Idaho (@didaho)
18th November 2022, 8:54
I think this may be a limp wristed slap on that matter.
Andrey Baydin (@minilemm)
17th November 2022, 21:31
Most teams run drivers they have no intention of ever hiring, and that’s a bit sad. I guess not what those practices were intended for.
Not referring to this particular case, just glanced over the schedule… Schwartzman and Fittipaldi don’t seem to be going anywhere and surely less than 3 teams were thinking of hiring De Vries
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
17th November 2022, 23:19
Kid better not crash it or Max’s mom will posting mean things about him.
Qeki (@qeki)
18th November 2022, 9:52
I too would like an indoor lavotary
Biker56 (@biker56)
18th November 2022, 0:22
I hope he’s quicker than Verstappen. :)
Biker56 (@biker56)
18th November 2022, 17:56
Pretty quick though. Not half bad.
xavi
18th November 2022, 2:14
make it permanent for the whole weekend
Tiaki Porangi
18th November 2022, 3:33
Hope he smashes the laptimes and gets the seat for good. Very decent kid, have had the pleasure to hear him interviewed on the Mike Hosking Breakfast on New Zealand’s NewsTalkZB radio a few times – very grounded, very respectful, very mature young man.
Future world champion!
Corran Horn
18th November 2022, 6:40
Glad to see I’m not the only one who rates Lawson. Guy has some of the worst luck ever, did expect more from him this year but 7th isn’t really indicative of his talent.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
18th November 2022, 6:48
He was unlucky in terms of points true, but he’s been thoroughly outpaced by his rookie teammate. That’s not a great sign all things considered. He’s still young, and a year racing in GTs or Super Formula might be good to keep him race ready in case any of the 2023 F2 crop of Red Bull juniors don’t impress.
M
18th November 2022, 4:23
He’ll need a lot of hand sanitizer.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th November 2022, 11:19
Lawson has already been SL-eligible since last year’s F2 campaign finish.