AlphaTauri have finally scored more points than they have had drivers throughout the 2023 Formula 1 season following Liam Lawson’s impressive run in Singapore.
AlphaTauri entered the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit having not scored more than one point in a single race throughout the first 14 races of the 2023 Formula 1 season, and they had only managed to score a single point on three occasions.
Yuki Tsunoda was responsible for all three of those point-scoring efforts, finishing in 10th place in the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit, and the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Rookie Nyck de Vries was unable to finish higher than 12th place in his 10 starts before he was ultimately released early by the team, and Daniel Ricciardo finished in 13th and 16th before breaking his wrist in a practice crash at Circuit Zandvoort.
Since then, Liam Lawson has taken over for Ricciardo, and he has been arguably the team’s top performer of the entire season in his three starts, having not yet finished behind Tsunoda.
Through three Formula 1 starts with AlphaTauri, the 21-year-old New Zealander’s average finish is 11.0.
He finished in career-high ninth place in this past Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix to score two more points for the team. In a single race, he became responsible for 40% of the team’s entire point total in 2023, and more importantly, he ended an embarrassing AlphaTauri stat.
With five points in 15 races this season, it can no longer be said that AlphaTauri have had more drivers than points scored in 2023.
Prior to Sunday’s race, they had scored just three points with four drivers, but Lawson, who has been linked to both AlphaTauri and Williams in regard to a potential full-time 2024 seat, changed that during an impressive weekend which also saw him knock two-time reigning world champion and runaway points leader Max Verstappen out of qualifying at the end of Q2.
Having punched well above his weight since being called upon by AlphaTauri to replace Nyck de Vries replacement Daniel Ricciardo, what does Liam Lawson’s future hold? Is he a candidate for Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat in 2025?