Johnny Herbert: Liam Lawson is the future. He should have been chosen by AlphaTauri in 2024

On first sight, I’m impressed with what I’ve seen from Liam Lawson. Why? Because in a very short space of time he has been able to adjust to the bubble of Formula 1. What I like is that ability to jump in and do the job straight away. It’s actually a rare thing when someone gets a hold of a car and does what we actually expect of them.
Lawson has shown speed when there’s pressure because he’s been racing to prove he’s worthy of keeping the drive. He hasn’t had the luxury of time to settle in. In Singapore, at what most drivers say is the most difficult track on the calendar both physically and mentally, he was very impressive and scored his first world championship points in his third grand prix. Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has done a good job too – but I feel Liam already has taken control at AlphaTauri. For me, he earned a seat for 2024.

“Marko’s approach to his drivers is harsh. He’s brutal but pragmatic”

So I don’t agree with the decision of AlphaTauri to bring Daniel Ricciardo back for next year. Is he the future? No, Liam is the future. I understand that Daniel didn’t get a proper go at it before breaking his wrist at Zandvoort, but in the time he had on his return there was no ‘wow factor’. I’d say there has been with Liam. He has something that looks pretty special. I think it should have beeen a Lawson/Tsunoda line-up at AlphaTauri next year. After all, it’s a junior team that exists to bring on young talent.

Lawson’s junior career was solid rather than stellar. I saw him in Formula 3 and he looked good, and in F2 he was always in the mix even if he didn’t have the consistency to be a champion. But what counts is how you react when you get your F1 chance. Michael Schumacher in the Jordan at Spa in 1991 is always the prime example. Bang! He arrived.
That’s surely the kind of impact Helmut Marko is looking for when he pulls in a driver. Is he too tough, too quick to judge? Take Nyck de Vries. Some said he should have given Nyck more time, but if you look at the first part of the season it just didn’t happen for de Vries. He had an impressive junior career and won Formula E too. But he never had that bang in F1, at any point. To be fair, it didn’t happen for Pierre Gasly or Alexander Albon either, and they are rare examples of drivers who have bounced back from being dropped by Marko, whereas Daniil Kvyat didn’t. He was actually doing a good job at Red Bull in 2016, but then had that incident in Russia at the wrong time, before Max Verstappen took his drive. When Daniil went back to AlphaTauri (Toro Rosso as it was then) he’d lost his mojo. Overall, I’d say Marko’s approach to his drivers is harsh, but I understand it to a degree. There are very few F1 drivers at any given time, and very few that stand out. He’s brutal but pragmatic.

On Sergio Perez, I’d say this is a different case. Clearly the words Marko used about him were not very smart. But beyond that I don’t understand why he’d say anything about Checo in the situation he’s in at the moment against Max Verstappen. Marko should be there to support, then make a decision at the end of the season. I don’t agree with and don’t get why he’d unsettle him mid-season. Sergio should be judged differently to someone like de Vries. He’s won races and has a proven pedigree that deserves respect. It’s not the same thing.

Against Max, Sergio clearly doesn’t look like a potential world champion, but his contract runs to the end of 2024. Irrespective of that, is there a case for Red Bull to take a financial hit and replace him for next year? He’s not qualifying close enough to Verstappen, but I’d say generally he does race well. The real question is who would you replace him with, and who’s available? I don’t see who there is unless you have someone like Charles Leclerc, but he is under contract too, to Ferrari until the end of next year. There’s no one obvious – other than Ricciardo. Although on current evidence that can’t be justified.

Which brings us back to Lawson. How about him for the senior team? He could have had next year at the junior team to bring him on, then been promoted place of Perez for 2025. Then again, as we’ve seen so many times (and as Lawson has just discovered), it can all go wrong very quickly. You have to take your chance and be ready whenever it comes. That’s not just Marko’s way – it’s the law of the F1 jungle.

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Johnny Herbert was a Formula 1 driver from 1989-2000 and a Le Mans winner in 1991. He is a regular contributor to Sky Sports F1
Follow Johnny on Twitter @johnnyherbertf1