Report: AlphaTauri sticking with Ricciardo, Tsunoda for 2024
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AlphaTauri will stick with Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda for the 2024 season, Nate Saunders of ESPN reports.
The decision leaves Liam Lawson, who is currently filling in for the injured Ricciardo, without a drive for 2024, with only an open seat at Williams remaining on the grid.
Lawson will race again this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix as Ricciardo continues to recover from a broken hand. AlphaTauri has yet to officially announce its driver lineup for 2024, having already used three drivers – Nyck de Vries, Ricciardo and Lawson – in one car, with Tsunoda occupying the other this season.
“I think every driver feels like they should be [on the grid] and we all…to be at this level, we all have to have self-belief and I certainly have that, but right now I’m focused on delivering these weekends,” Lawson said in Japan, per the F1 website.
“When the stint that I have, when it ends, I’ll look back on it and I guess assess how I’ve done. But yeah, I do believe I should be in F1.”
Lawson finished 13th in his debut race at the Dutch Grand Prix, less than 48 hours after getting the call to replace Ricciardo. He placed 11th at the Italian Grand Prix and scored points for the first time last weekend with a ninth-place finish in Singapore.
The ninth-place result marked AlphaTauri's best result of the season, with Tsunoda previously coming 10th on three occasions.
Ricciardo finished 13th and 16th in his two races prior to his injury, which he suffered in practice ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.