Liam Lawson, runner-up in Super Formula
Despite his victory at the season opener, the reserve driver of AlphaTauri was unable to win the title against Ritomo Miyata, who was ultimately crowned champion at Suzuka.
At the beginning of the season, Liam Lawson made a strong impression: for 45 years, no driver before him had won a race in his first participation. A few months later, he failed to win the championship, finishing 8 points behind the winner: Ritomo Miyata (TOM’S).
A chaotic last weekend in Suzuka.
After a huge crash at 130R on the fourth lap of the race on Saturday, the weekend was disrupted, and Lawson’s title chances were compromised. The race did not restart, the results were halted at the end of the third lap, and half of the points were awarded.
A disastrous operation for Lawson, who was classified 6th, while his biggest rivals, Miyata and Nojiri, were respectively classified 2nd and 1st.
At the end of the first race, he no longer had his destiny in his own hands. He was now in 3rd place in the championship, 15 points behind Miyata the leader.
Little reminder, in case of victory the first person wins 20 points, the second person 15 points and the third person 11 points. In the qualifying round, 3, 2, and 1 point are awarded to the top 3: difficult but not impossible.
On Sunday, Liam Lawson secured the pole position before finishing in second place in the race: insufficient as Miyata took third place.
A season with an unfinished taste.
His victory count remains stuck at 3 units, which allows him to finish in second place in the driver’s championship. He wins the constructor title with TEAM MUGEN, with the help of his teammate Nojiri, just behind him in the driver standings.
Just like Pierre Gasly in 2017, Lawson was unable to win the title in the top category of Japanese single-seaters. This is disappointing considering the hopes that were placed on him at the beginning of the season, especially when he led the championship in May. Nonetheless, he was still elected Rookie of the Year 2023.
🏆Rookie of the year 2023’🏆
LIAM LAWSON @LiamLawson30
NO DOUBT, he’s showed great not-rookie-like performance through the year!!#sformula #superformula #motorsports pic.twitter.com/o41NclrJnZ
— SUPER FORMULA (@SUPERFORMULA_En) October 30, 2023
