When Liam Lawson got his first chance to race in Formula 1 in 2023 after AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo suffered seven hand fractures, few in the world of F1 expected him to do quite as well as he did. In a car that was usually towards the back of the pack he ended his first race in 13th after a chaotic Grand Prix in Zandvoort, then went two better at Monza to finish 11th.
But it was around the difficult street track of Singapore where he put in arguably his best performance. He out qualified the three other Red Bull drivers, including world champion Max Verstappen, and ended up finishing ninth, scoring his first points in F1 that come the end of the season would see him finish above two other drivers who had more races than him.
Obviously, years of experience in junior competitions along with a whole heap of talent were the main reasons for his success, but a tiny percentage was down to the F1 games he had been playing since he was young.
