Liam Lawson to Suffer 10-Place Grid Penalty in His First Race After Replacing Daniel Ricciardo

Liam Lawson has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB for the remainder of the 2024 season, but his first race is unlikely to be anything worthy to write about. Red Bull’s chief advisor Helmut Marko confirmed that the New Zealander will get a 10-place grid penalty at the US GP.

Lawson is joining the grid midway through the campaign, but he will be driving the same car that Ricciardo raced for the first 18 races. At COTA in Austin, Red Bull plans to change the power unit components in Lawson’s VCARB01, as these are the components Ricciardo had exceeded the allocated number for, resulting in a penalty.

Moreover, things could get trickier for Lawson as the 2024 US GP will also feature a Sprint Race. “Ten places in the sprint race, so that doesn’t exactly make life easier in Austin,” said Marko as quoted by Autosport.

In terms of performance, RB is currently on the lower end of the spectrum, meaning Lawson will need something special to secure a good starting position. Even if he manages to do so, the 10-place grid penalty will push him down the order for the races, making it very difficult to score points.

Marko indicated that Lawson’s result at the US GP won’t be used to evaluate his performance or abilities. Instead, that assessment will begin at the Mexico City GP, where the 22-year-old will have a clean slate and a ‘penalty-free weekend’ to start fresh.

Red Bull could be considering Lawson as a potential option to replace Sergio Perez

Reportedly, RB choosing to sack Ricciardo and replace him with Lawson had a lot to do with its plans for 2025. Red Bull (RB’s parent team) is not satisfied with Sergio Perez, who has been miles off Max Verstappen.

Hence, Lawson, if he performs well, could be in line to replace Perez at Red Bull. For that, Lawson has the next six races to prove his worth — five, if the US GP is not taken into account.

Climbing the ranks through the Red Bull Junior programme, it’s all led to this moment #F1 #VCARB pic.twitter.com/ypXk5qpgzD

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At the same time, if Lawson is able to put in a strong performance in Austin next month, he will only be boosting his chances of becoming Verstappen’s teammate.