Young Kiwi ace Liam Lawson has sent a message to the F1 paddock he is deserving of a full-time seat by scoring points in the Singapore Grand Prix – just his third race in the sport.
Deputising for the injured Daniel Ricciardo who continues to recover from surgery on a broken hand, Lawson looked set for a 10th-place finish before George Russell's last-lap crash elevated him to ninth to record the AlphaTauri team's best result of the season.
It was the first time in the sixteen-year history of the race a driver had scored their maiden points at the circuit.
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It was also the first time Lawson had ever competed at the circuit, regarded as being one of the most physically demanding on the calendar.
"I gave that everything – there's nothing left," he said on team radio on the cooldown lap back to the pits.
The points capped off what was a strong weekend all round for the 21-year-old, who put in a stonking lap to knock Max Verstappen out of the second part of qualifying.
He was the only one of the four Red Bull-backed drivers to make the final part of qualifying for the fastest ten drivers.
Lawson was slow off the line and dropped to 12th, where he would remain until lap 20 when a safety car was called to clear the circuit of debris left by a clumsy low-speed crash for Williams' Logan Sargeant.
Having been shuffled back to 14th, Esteban Ocon's retirement and several pit stops meant Lawson was running eighth with just under 20 laps left.
That became 10th when the two sister Red Bulls of championship leader Verstappan and Sergio Perez came back through the field on fresher tyres, before Russell's crash gave a late boost.
Given he will vacate the seat as soon as Ricciardo returns to fitness, Lawson said his goal was to "maximise every race".
"(On Sunday), that was points, which is great. We'll try and do even more hopefully in the future, if I get the chance to drive again," he said.
In a separate interview with Sky Sports, Lawson said he needed to improve his starts after poor getaways had proven costly two races in a row.
"I need to sort these starts because it's two weekends in a row now that I've lost two spots off the line and it's just making our life more difficult," he said.
"It's two spots and around here you can't overtake, so it's crucial.
"Obviously, we did the hard work (in qualifying) and ourselves in Q3, and to lose those spots off the line was a bit tricky."
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Lawson was called in to drive for Ricciardo mid-way through the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.
Ricciardo was in the Singapore paddock, but in an "engineering only" capacity. He made no media appearances and did not take part in any promotional activities.
Lawson said earlier in the weekend the Aussie's presence was "very positive".
The next F1 race is at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan next Sunday – a track Lawson is intimately familiar with given he's been racing in the Japanese Super Formula this season.
Whilst Ricciardo is an outside chance to make an early return, it's far more likely he'll be back for the following race in Qatar on October 8.
But Lawson's sensational Singapore drive has put him in the box seat for a full-time call-up next season, with calls for him to partner Ricciardo and demote Yuki Tsunoda in back to reserve driver.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, has driven last in the past two races combined after an engine failure last time out at Monza, and then a first-lap collision in Singapore.
"I've been beating the drum since before driving in F1, trying to get this shot, and now I have this opportunity I'm just trying to maximise it," he said when asked about 2024.
"I speak to (Red Bull supremo Helmut Marko) after each race. But to be honest … I have this very short window trying (where) basically I want to get to the end of it and look back and know that I'd done everything I could."
Lawson scored his first F1 points in front of his family and a strong New Zealand contingent who had flown over for the race.
"There's been a lot of New Zealand flags … when we did the driver parade, I couldn't believe how many New Zealand flags are here, which has been great," he said.
"I've had a lot of cool messages and to have my family here as well … it's really, really cool."
Aside from Melbourne, Singapore is the next closest race.
Lawson's ninth place and two points nearly doubled AlphaTauri's points haul for the season to five. They remain anchored to the bottom of the Constructors Championship, five points behind Alfa Romeo.
Lawson meanwhile is 19th in the Driver's standings, ahead not only of Ricciardo and Nyck De Vries, but also Logan Sargeant in the Williams who has driven at every race.
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