Daniel Ricciardo set to keep F1 seat for 2024 as expected team-mate named

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Daniel Ricciardo will keep his AlphaTauri seat for at least another year despite Liam Lawson having impressed in his absence, according to reports. Ricciardo has been sidelined with a broken hand following his crash in free practice at the Dutch Grand Prix last month.

Lawson has been racing in Ricciardo’s place over the last few weeks and managed to score his first points by finishing ninth in Singapore last weekend. He has made no secret of his desire to earn a permanent F1 seat but will reportedly be ditched by AlphaTauri when Ricciardo is fit and firing again.

The latter will be kept on for another year, according to Channel 4, with Yuki Tsunoda the ‘overwhelming favourite’ to race alongside him in 2024. The Japanese driver’s position at AlphaTauri has come under scrutiny as of late, with his last points finish coming in Belgium before the summer break.

Tsunoda has been forced to retire in each of his last two outings, breaking down before the start of the race in Italy before another mechanical failure on the opening lap in Singapore. He will reportedly be given one more year to prove his worth at AlphaTauri, though, potentially leaving Lawson without a drive.

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It remains to be seen whether any other doors will open up for Lawson, who has shown impressive potential since being drafted in to replace Ricciardo. Williams have been widely tipped to part ways with Logan Sargeant at the end of the season and might be tempted to move for Lawson if the opportunity arises.

The New Zealander insisted earlier this week that he would be disappointed to leave F1 next year after getting a taste for the action over the last few weeks, telling Autosport: “I wouldn’t be happy to go back to being reserve, but obviously I know how hard it is to get into Formula One.

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“I understand that that can be really difficult sometimes, so obviously what will happen will happen, but these things I just haven’t really thought about too much. I’m just trying to make the most of this. To be honest, there hasn’t been a huge amount of time to discuss the future.

“On what’s happened so far, it’s been pretty positive, but I guess the message for me has just been to keep my head down now and try and keep delivering until obviously things clear up, until this opportunity I have ends when Daniel comes back. It’s basically just doing a good job but keep doing the same thing.

“Obviously I want to be in Formula One. Now I have this chance, I’m trying to do everything I can to show that I can be here. But in terms of all those discussions, those will happen after this weekend.”

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