Max Verstappen (L) and Liam Lawson. Photo: Photosport
New Zealander Liam Lawson has been confirmed to stand in for AlphaTauri's recovering Australian Daniel Ricciardo for the fifth straight race at this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old made his Formula One race debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in August after Ricciardo crashed and broke his hand in practice.
He scored his first points when he finished ninth in Singapore, his third race, last month.
Qatar is a sprint weekend, with a 100km race on Saturday ahead of the main grand prix on Sunday night and points to be scored in both.
"We still have more to learn about our new package, and I'm not so sure that Qatar is the type of circuit that will suit our car," Lawson said in a team preview.
"Learning takes time, and we've got more opportunities in Qatar to try and get the most out of it. However, it's also a Sprint weekend, so at the same time, that makes it quite tricky, especially in my situation.
"I've never driven here, so going into the sprint weekend will be extra tough."
Lawson drove the track on the simulator last week and expected an exciting but tough weekend.
"With only one free practice session, we drivers will have to know where to improve because it'll get faster at night when it's much cooler, and we need to know exactly how to extract everything out of the car," he said.
"I'm expecting it to be tougher than the races we've just done."
The New Zealander will revert to a reserve role next season, with Ricciardo and Japan's Yuki Tsunoda confirmed for next season.
Lawson, who is also competing in Japan's Super Formula series with the final round clashing with the Mexican Grand Prix, said his goal now was to make sure he secured an F1 seat in future.
"Right now, I've still got this opportunity to keep trying to show something, and I'll try to make the most of it," he said.
Verstappen on verge of championship
Mewanwhile, It would be the surprise of the season if Max Verstappen fails to secure his third Formula One world championship in Qatar this weekend.
The dominant Red Bull driver, who turned 26 last weekend, has two chances to wrap things up on a sprint weekend with points to be scored in races on both the Saturday and Sunday at the Lusail circuit.
Verstappen needs only three points, regardless of the results his team mate and sole title rival Sergio Perez achieves.
That means a sixth place in the 100km sprint would make him the first champion to secure the title on a Saturday since Brazilian Nelson Piquet in the 1980s.
It will also add another footnote for the sport's statisticians to argue over since he would have won the title with six grands prix to spare but with five full weekends remaining.
The chances of Verstappen not scoring three points look, on paper, about as slim as the race being rained off.
Verstappen is chasing his 14th victory in 17 races this year, after dominating the previous round in Japan and winning a record 10 in a row up to Singapore, and has won two of the three sprints so far.
The Dutch driver has yet to finish lower than fourth in a sprint race since the format was introduced in 2021 and this season has so far amassed 400 points -- more even than second placed Mercedes with two drivers.
The last time he came away from a grand prix weekend with less than three points was in Australia in April 2022 when he retired due to a fuel leak -- a run of 35 races in the points.
In fact Verstappen may not even need to score if Perez, who has not beaten Verstappen in any race since Baku in April, fails to take enough points to stay mathematically in contention.
The Mexican is 177 points adrift with 180 still available.
Qatar did not host a race last year due to hosting the soccer World Cup but in 2021, when it made its debut on the calendar in a Middle Eastern triple header with Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton won from pole for Mercedes.
Verstappen still set the fastest lap and will not be easing off on Sunday even if he has already clinched the title as he chases more records.
Red Bull have already secured the constructors' championship but the teams behind them still have plenty to fight for, with Hamilton also only 33 points adrift of Perez in the drivers' standings.
Mercedes are only 20 points clear of third-placed Ferrari while fifth-placed McLaren are 49 adrift of Aston Martin but hopeful of closing the gap after three podium placings from the last two races.
- Reuters