F1 drivers lead a life that fans of the sport actually love. Playing the official game is just as close as one comes to experiencing the emotions of being an F1 driver, but there’s still a huge difference. According to Liam Lawson, however, there is one “unreal” similarity between the game and real life.
On the Red Flags podcast, Lawson talks the hosts through his first-ever experience of suiting up for an F1 race. Firstly, he takes a reference from the official F1 game made by EA Sports to describe how he felt.
He talks about the cut-screen before races, which is followed by the visuals of a driver sitting in the cockpit of their car in first-person, with a screen being put in front of them and photographers in front clicking shots. The New Zealander says,
“Before P3 [in Zandvoort], I had got into the car,” said Lawson.
“And the screen came down and like all the photographers are there. And it was like straight from the game!”
The hosts let out a big laugh, happy that they too got to experience an F1-like moment by playing the game. “This is so sick, it was unreal,” Lawson adds.
Lawson, not a full-time driver in F1, is still waiting for the opportunity. However, when he got to fulfill his duties as a reserve last season, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Lawson knows the similarity between the F1 games and real life because he filled in for Daniel Ricciardo for five races in 2023. The Honey Badger injured himself in The Netherlands ahead of the Dutch GP, and without much preparation, V-CARB (formerly AlphaTauri) put Lawson into the car.
A bit nervous but confident of his abilities, Lawson was able to perform well in all five races he took part in. But, the highlight came at the Singapore GP. He outqualified the dominant Max Verstappen [who had won 10 races in a row at that point] and even finished ahead of him in the race.
Unfortunately, the AlphaTauri (now V-CARB) seat that he filled went to Ricciardo instead, and he was demoted back to the sidelines for the 2024 campaign. Now, Lawson waits patiently as Red Bull looks to integrate the talented Kiwi driver onto the grid in some way, come the 2025 season.
