When Liam Lawson obtained his first likelihood to race in Formulation 1 in 2023 after AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo suffered seven hand fractures, few on this planet of F1 anticipated him to do fairly in addition to he did. In a automotive that was often in direction of the again of the pack he ended his first race in thirteenth after a chaotic Grand Prix in Zandvoort, then went two higher at Monza to complete eleventh.
However it was across the troublesome road observe of Singapore the place he put in arguably his finest efficiency. He out certified the three different Purple Bull drivers, together with world champion Max Verstappen, and ended up ending ninth, scoring his first factors in F1 that come the tip of the season would see him end above two different drivers who had extra races than him.
Clearly, years of expertise in junior competitions together with a complete heap of expertise had been the principle causes for his success, however a tiny proportion was right down to the F1 video games he had been enjoying since he was younger.
“My first F1 sport was 2010, I performed that sport rather a lot when it got here out, after which yearly since then I just about performed each single sport,” stated Lawson. “For me, the most important factor was going to Singapore final 12 months and driving it. Clearly, I’d achieved the event within the simulator, nevertheless it was additionally all of the years of enjoying the F1 video games [that helped]. Singapore was my favorite observe, and I did it so many instances that there was a large resemblance after I drove in actual life.”
In contrast to a whole lot of the opposite tracks on the F1 calendar, Singapore is a observe that’s constructed for the F1 occasion after which returns to being metropolis streets for the remainder of the 12 months, so there are only a few alternatives for drivers exterior of F1 to race it. Which means that digital recreations are “actually the one approach to be taught it,” in response to Lawson, and understanding the F1 video games helped him rise up to hurry faster within the complicated simulator AlphaTauri used.
Whereas Lawson had all the time been a fan of racing video games, particularly the F1 titles, it wasn’t till the COVID lockdowns that he lastly upgraded his sim racing gear and began to see the actual advantages of competing just about.
“On the time, I had a Logitech [an entry-level sim racing wheel], I did get a greater simulator throughout that point, however all of us simply grabbed what we had and kind of made these rigs and began these on-line championships and simply raced each single day,” recalled Lawson. “That facet of it was actually, actually cool, and I feel that actually grew sim racing and confirmed the world, or not less than individuals who didn’t consider it was so reasonable, that truly it’s rather a lot nearer than what individuals realised.”
Sadly for me, Liam’s remark about having a Logitech was a response to me making an attempt responsible my poor ability degree on my house gear. So when it got here time to leap on F1 24 within the fancy sim rig arrange on the occasion in London to get some teaching from Liam the stress was on. Nevertheless, him telling the small crowd watching that there wasn’t a lot he wanted to teach me on is one thing I’ll brag about till my final breath.
“On the time, I had a Logitech, I did get a greater simulator throughout that point, however all of us simply grabbed what we had and kind of made these rigs and began these on-line championships and simply raced each single day”
This 12 months’s F1 sport has confirmed divisive to say the least, particularly in relation to the massively up to date dealing with of the automobiles. The system has been utterly reworked, with the concept of constructing the automobiles react extra like they do in actual life in addition to fixing various the longstanding points followers have had.
Nevertheless, the group response since launching final week, and from creators who obtained hands-on early, is that the brand new system isn’t nice and could be abused with unrealistic automotive setups and by driving in a manner that no actual driver would. It’s a problem, however one which Lawson, who had solely had a quick time with the sport after we spoke, didn’t appear too apprehensive about.
“For me, I genuinely like the brand new traits of the automotive extra, I simply assume there’s a approach to exploit that, which is I feel much like what the group is kind of saying,” stated Lawson. “For those who drive inside customary limits, or [how] you’ll in actual life, the precise traits of the automotive are manner higher. There’s much more compliance, which is de facto cool and good to really feel. However there’s simply these methods of exploiting for the time being the place if you happen to do this, then it could actually turn out to be unrealistic.”
If an precise F1 driver is saying this 12 months’s sport feels fairly good then I’m inclined to consider him, however that doesn’t imply that everybody else is flawed about how F1 24 feels to drive. Whereas not confirming {that a} main overhaul is coming or that the group is actively engaged on such a patch, Lee Mather, senior inventive director on F1 24, did reveal that they’re already taking a look at how they’ll enhance issues based mostly on participant suggestions.
“The group is rarely flawed. All people’s opinion is legitimate,” stated Mather. “There are some parts of the viewers the place there are particular traits that they’re not gelling with. We’ve been working with these individuals, we’ve been speaking to them usually, and this 12 months, the modifications had been fairly vital.
“Now they’ve landed and so they’re out in public, we will proceed to work with the people who find themselves enjoying it, get their suggestions and you recognize, enhance, finesse, change it in methods that may obtain the kind of the factor that individuals are in search of. However by and enormous, the reception has been unimaginable and we’re actually happy with that. There are areas that we will enhance and we’ll proceed to take action… There’s that edge case the place it may be exploited by sure methods of enjoying, and that’s what we’ll refine.”
With Lawson successfully having to sit down this F1 season out as a reserve driver for Purple Bull, F1 24 together with the flamboyant simulator on the group’s HQ will doubtless be the closest he will get to an F1 race earlier than the 2025 season kicks off.
Nevertheless, when that does arrive, he’s anticipated to line up on the grid as a full-time driver, even when he was eager to say “there’s nothing assured within the sport” and that he was nonetheless engaged on being on the grid subsequent 12 months. However the subsequent time he does await the 5 lights to exit, there’s a superb likelihood that not less than a few of his preparation work, even when it occurred years in the past, befell within the F1 video games.
