Daniel Ricciardo will miss the Qatar Grand Prix as he continues his recovery from a broken hand, so Liam Lawson steps into the AlphaTauri seat for another weekend.
Ricciardo, who is expected to return for the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 20-22, required surgery after breaking a metacarpal when he crashed in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
Since then, Lawson has replaced the Australian at Zandvoort, Monza, Singapore, Suzuka and now this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix - live on Sky Sports F1.
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AlphaTauri have already confirmed Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda will be their drivers in 2024, with Lawson set for a reserve driver role for both of Red Bull's teams.
Lawson has impressed during his substitute appearances as he beat Tsunoda in the three races they have started - the Japanese driver broke down on the formation lap of the Italian Grand Prix.
In Singapore, Lawson finished ninth to become just the sixth driver from New Zealand to score points in F1, having never driven around the street circuit before.
There is just one seat yet to be confirmed for next year, which is Logan Sargeant's place at Williams, as the American driver continues to struggle in his rookie season.
Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok believes Williams should consider Lawson, who admits he would "not be happy" to be in a reserve driver role for 2024.
"If I was Williams, I would definitely be looking at Liam Lawson. You have got to have the conversation," said Chandhok.
"[Alex] Albon's outqualified Sargeant on every occasion, he has scored all the points so far for Williams. If you are Williams, you should be shopping around and Liam Lawson has put himself on the market in a very good way."
Lawson will be competing in his first F1 Sprint weekend which sees just one practice session, before qualifying on Friday evening. Saturday will feature a Sprint Shootout (shortened qualifying) to set the grid for the Sprint Race. The main Grand Prix takes place as normal on Sunday.
"I'm not sure how we'll get on there or how the upgrades will work. I think it's hard to say because where we struggled in Japan was mainly in the high speed, in Sector 1," said Lawson.
"We still have more to learn about our new package, and I'm not so sure that Qatar is the type of circuit that will suit our car. Learning takes time, and we've got more opportunities in Qatar to try and get the most out of it. However, it's also a Sprint weekend, so at the same time, that makes it quite tricky, especially in my situation. I've never driven here, so going into the sprint weekend will be extra tough.
"I drove the Qatar track in the simulator at the end of last week. It's very fast, a very high-speed circuit and quite unique, and I've not seen many tracks like it, as there's only one low-speed corner in the whole track."
He continued: "In Japan, the news came public that I'm back to the role of reserve driver next year. Obviously, my goal is to be in Formula 1 full-time, so as much as it's disappointing, it's still my goal, and it's now about trying to make sure that I can make that happen in the future.
"Right now, I've still got this opportunity to keep trying to show something, and I'll try to make the most of it. For now, as long as this lasts, I'll focus on it, and then once I step back from F1, it'll be full focus on preparing for the final round of the Super Formula championship at Suzuka on the weekend of the Mexican Grand Prix. It'll be very different adjusting back to the car, but it's certainly been useful having driven so many laps at Suzuka throughout the Grand Prix weekend."
When to watch the Qatar GP live only on Sky Sports F1
Thursday October 5
- 4pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday October 6
- 2pm: Qatar GP Practice One (Session starts 2.30pm)
- 5pm: Qatar GP Qualifying build-up
- 6pm: Qatar GP Qualifying
- 8pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Saturday October 7
- 1.30pm: Sprint Shootout build-up
- 2pm: Sprint Shootout
- 5.30pm: Sprint build-up
- 6.30pm: SPRINT
- 8pm: Ted's Sprint Notebook
Sunday October 8
- 4.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP build-up
- 6pm: THE QATAR GRAND PRIX
- 8pm: Chequered Flag: Qatar GP reaction
- 9pm: Ted's Notebook
Will Max Verstappen wrap up his third world championship at the first attempt at the Qatar GP? Watch every session of the Sprint weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from October 6-8. Stream F1 and more with NOW for £21 a month for six months