Qatar GP: Liam Lawson set for toughest Formula 1 test yet in double-race weekend

Liam Lawson will drive for AlphaTauri at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend. Photo / Getty Images

Liam Lawson’s Formula 1 cameo has been full of career milestones, and he will get to check another one off before stepping back out of the spotlight.

First, it was getting to compete in a proper Formula 1 race, then it was finishing in the points. Now, Lawson will face his toughest challenge yet.

Confirmed to drive for AlphaTauri in this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo still out with injury, Lawson will get to experience a Formula 1 sprint week for the first time – and at a track he is unfamiliar with. Ricciardo is expected back for the next event in Texas later in the month, so this will likely be Lawson’s last Formula 1 race appearance of the season.

Throughout the season, there are only six sprint weeks, which see the grid compete in a short-course race as well as the usual main race. Sprint races run for 100km with no mandatory pit stops, and the top eight finishers get points towards the drivers’ championship standings in descending order from eight to one. The added race means drivers get just one practice session in which to come to terms with the track before qualifying.

“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 said.

“I drove the Qatar track in the simulator at the end of last week. It’s very fast, a very high-speed circuit and quite unique, and I’ve not seen many tracks like it, as there’s only one low-speed corner in the whole track. The rest is just fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh gear, so I think it’s going to be exciting to drive.

“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. I’m expecting it to be tougher than the races we’ve just done.”

Lawson isn’t a stranger to the sprint format, which is a feature of every event on the Formula 2 circuit. However, the Formula 2 format Lawson was used to last year featured just one qualifying session for both races, with the top 10 lining up in reverse order for the sprint. Formula 1 sprint races have a separate qualification session from that of their main race, with the sprint shootout replacing one of the two practice sessions previously held on sprint weekends in past years.

It will be an interesting exercise for the 21-year-old as he navigates trying to learn the track and maximise the performance of his car in a drastically more limited window than he has previously experienced in Formula 1.

In Japan, Lawson drove well to finish just outside the points in 11th place, but admitted he wasn’t sure how the upgrades the team has made to the package will work in Qatar.

“It’s hard to say because where we struggled in Japan was mainly in the high speed, in Sector 1,” Lawson said.

“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. Learning takes time, and we’ve got more opportunities in Qatar to try to get the most out of it.”

Qatar Grand Prix schedule (NZ time)

Free Practice - 2.30am Saturday

Qualifying - 6am Saturday

Sprint shootout - 2am Sunday

Sprint race - 6am Sunday

Grand Prix race - 6am Monday