Dr. Helmut Marko has revealed that Liam Lawson will race in Super Formula in 2023, while Dennis Hauger will share the reserve driver duties with the two Red Bull teams in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship with the New Zealander next season.
Lawson will bring to an end his time in the FIA Formula 2 championship after next weeks round in Abu Dhabi and will switch to competing in Japan, following in the footsteps of current Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly and former Formula 1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne, amongst others, in making the move.
Marko, a long-time advisor to Red Bull, says Lawson will benefit from racing in Japan even though he will face fierce competition from the Japanese racers that know the Super Formula championship inside out.
“He will do Super Formula,” Marko said to Motorsport.com. “It’s a difficult place to be. The Japanese drivers know every centimetre, they know all the tracks, it’s not easy.”
Lawson, who has participated in two free practice sessions with AlphaTauri in 2022 and will run in the first session in Abu Dhabi with Oracle Red Bull Racing next week, will act as the reserve driver for both teams next year, with Norwegian driver Hauger stepping in when he is unavailable.
“We have several reserve drivers,” Marko added. “Another one will be Hauger, that’s what’s decided so far. And we will see the beginning of the season how it’s going.
“There will be some clashes, but out of our youngsters there will be two or three.”
Marko also revealed that there will be some changes to the Red Bull Junior Team in 2023, with an announcement of who’s coming in and who’s leaving seemingly imminent.
“We will make an announcement pretty soon about who is leaving and who are the new guys.”
