Lawson admits there will be a ‘mountain to climb’ on his F1 return as he explains challenges he’ll face in Austin

Liam Lawson believes there will be a “mountain to climb” heading into his F1 return for the final six races of 2024, with the driver from New Zealand acknowledging that going straight into a Sprint weekend at Austin could prove particularly challenging.

After impressing during a five-race stint in 2023 as a substitute for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson is again stepping in at RB following the Australian’s immediate exit from the squad following the Singapore Grand Prix.

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This gives the 22-year-old six weekends in which to stake his claim for a seat on the grid next year, starting with the Circuit of The Americas on October 18-20.

Asked during an interview with New Zealand’s Newstalk ZB radio station if his simulator work as a Red Bull reserve driver across recent months has made the leap less great than it could have been, Lawson answered: “I think yes, potentially, but it’s always a big jump.

“It’s going to be tough to jump in. Austin I haven’t done before, either, so even though I’ve done plenty of sim work it’s going to be a big challenge. I would say I’m better prepared, definitely more prepared this year than I was last year.

“At the same time, it’s slightly later in the season this year, and as I said, these guys have done three quarters of a season. Obviously I’ve been training like crazy all year to try and be ready for something like this, but even the few tests that I’ve done this year, there’s nothing like being race fit and it’s going to be challenging in Austin.”

In terms of how much experience he has at the tracks he will be racing at for the remainder of the season, Lawson acknowledged that being new to Austin could make the Sprint format tricky for him as he tries to learn the circuit.

READ MORE: Lawson makes Red Bull test appearance ahead of F1 return at United States GP

“[I only have experience at] the ones that I did last year, so the ones I haven’t done are Austin, Vegas, Brazil…” he explained. “Fortunately I’ve done a free practice session in Mexico once. It’s still going to be challenging, but at least I’ve driven the track.

“Same with Abu Dhabi, I’ve driven it in F1, I did a free practice session there in the Red Bull. It will just be those tracks that I haven’t done.

“The tough thing about Austin is it’s a Sprint weekend, so it’ll be one practice session and then straight into Sprint quali. Obviously I’m going to have to try and learn as much as I can in one session and go into qualifying.”

Another factor that Lawson is having to adjust to is the increased focus on him off the track as well as on it.

“I’ve luckily had a bit of experience with it last year, so I’m better prepared for it,” the RB driver said. “It’s probably the one thing that us drivers don’t really do… There’s no real preparation for it, it’s something that you’re just kind of thrown into.

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“We’re doing all this work to try and be as ready to drive the car as fast as possible, and try and focus on just that, but as you said, the reality is there’s a lot of off-track attention. Even in the last three hours, I’ve been trying to sort of keep my mind off it a little bit, but my phone’s absolutely exploded and it’s something that I have to get used to.”

Despite the challenges ahead, Lawson is keen to get to work and has expressed his gratitude to those who have supported him in reaching this point.

“To everybody who’s stuck with me for all the years leading up to this, thank you,” he added. “Obviously it’s a huge journey and, for me, this is what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a kid.

“Obviously now we have another mountain to climb going into the season and hopefully driving next year as well. Hopefully this is the start of F1 for me, but I just want to say thank you to everybody, because I appreciate it a lot.”