“One person's misfortune is another's fortune”: Red Bull boss reckons Liam Lawson ‘will be fine’ on his F1 debut in Zandvoort

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner mentioned that he believes that Liam Lawson 'will be fine' on his F1 debut at Zandvoort this weekend.

The Kiwi will make his first race start on Sunday as a replacement for AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie injured his left hand in the FP2 session after avoiding crashinh into already striken McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

The injury will leave Ricciardo on the sidelines until Singapore and will give Liam Lawson the opportunity to prove his skills behind the wheel.

Speaking with Sky F1, Horner pointed out that Ricciardo's misfourtune could prove fortunate for the debutant and said:

"That's why he's here. He's the reserve driver for both teams, for exactly a scenario like this. So it's in at the deep end, one practice session, in a car I don't think he's driven before, and then qualifying - at one of the toughest tracks. That's F1, you get your chances, one person's misfortune is another's fortune. But I'm sure he'll be fine."

Liam Lawson analyzes his first qualifying session in F1

Liam Lawson stated that it was a tricky first qualifying session for him in the changeable weather conditions in Zandvoort. He also pointed out the difficulties of learning a track like Zandvoort in a struggling car.

Speaking with F1.com, Liam Lawson said:

“Today has been very hectic, with very tricky conditions. It was my first time driving on the intermediate tyres during the first session, and it was different to what I expected, but I felt like I was getting somewhere and learning how the tyres behaved."

He added:

"During qualifying, I was feeling comfortable and like I was gaining a lot, but then it rained again, and I expected the grip to drop, but I was surprised by how high it stayed, so for sure, I didn’t maximise everything. I feel comfortable in the car, but with these conditions, it’s tricky to learn this track in the car.

He also spoke about his dream of racing in F1:

"Any chance you get to race in Formula 1, you will grab with both hands, so I’m very excited about the opportunity I have been given. There are lots of emotions because it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was three years old.

Starting from P20 in the race, it would be interesting to see how Liam Lawson fares in his debut race and if he could indeed complete the entire race without any issues.