Karun Chandok believes Williams should target Liam Lawson for a 2024 seat after the rookie’s impressive performance in Singapore.
Lawson, who has replaced the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri in the last three races and will also fill in this weekend in Japan, secured his first points-finish at the weekend by coming home ninth.
It secured the New Zealander two points and AlphaTauri’s best-finish of the season but Ricciardo is likely to return in three weeks’ time in Qatar.
However, the perceived underachievement of Logan Sargeant at Williams this season – he is still on zero points, while team-mate Alex Albon has earned 21 points – has led Chandok to believe that Williams boss James Vowles should approach Lawson about a full-time seat next year.
“If I was Williams, I would definitely be looking at Liam Lawson,” ex-F1 driver Chandok told Sky F1.
“You’ve got to have the conversation, haven’t you? Because you know, Albon’s out-qualified Sargeant on every occasion, he has had scored all the points so far at Williams.
“If you are Williams, you should be shopping around and Liam Lawson had put himself on the market in a very good way.”
While most teams have confirmed their driver line-ups for 2024, only Williams with Sargeant and AlphaTauri with both seats are yet to do so.
It has been widely reported that AlphaTauri will this week, at a minimum, confirm Yuki Tsunoda’s seat for 2024 in what would be his fourth-straight season with Red Bull’s sister team.
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Liam Lawson finished an impressive ninth in Singapore on Sunday
(Getty Images)
Lawson, who has been racing in the Japanese Super Formula series this season after finishing third in Formula 2 last year, insisted post-race in Singapore that he wasn’t thinking too much about his future.
“I have no idea, honestly,” the 21-year-old said, when asked about his future.
“It’s tricky to get a full-time seat in this sport. But like I said, rather than looking at all those external things, it’s for me just focusing on every session, trying to maximise each time I’m in the car and try what I can.”
Deputising mid-season and impressing does not always lead to a bright future in F1: Nyck de Vries finished ninth last year in Monza for Williams, filling in for Alex Albon, and subsequently secured a 2023 drive with AlphaTauri.
However, the Dutchman was dropped after 10 races this season with Ricciardo replacing him.
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