Liam Lawson will make his Formula 1 debut at this Sunday’s Virtual Chinese Grand Prix with Scuderia AlphaTauri.
Lawson is currently in his second season of the FIA Formula 3 Championship where he competes for HiTech Grand Prix, with a winning past in NZ Formula First, NZ Formula Ford, Formula 4, Formula 3 Asia and the Toyota Racing Series.
Lawson has also etched his name onto the illustrious NZ Grand Prix prize in 2019, the same season he claimed his maiden Toyota Racing Series title.
The 18-year-old Red Bull Junior diver will be partnered alongside Italian football star Ciro Immobile.
Immobile plays for S.S. Lazio and the Italian national team. He is currently the top goal scorer in Serie A, with 27 goals from 26 games in the 2019/2020 Championship.
As the 2020 AlphaTauri is not in the F1 2019 game that the Virtual Series runs, both Lawson and Immobile will be racing last year’s Toro Rosso.
Fortunately, all cars will have a locked setup, equal performance level and driving aids such as ABS to help those competitors who are less familiar to the game.
Seven full-time F1 drivers including Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the McLaren duo of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris have also confirmed their presence in the event .
The format is the same as the two previous rounds, with short qualifying sessions to decide the grid followed by a race over 28 laps of the Shanghai International Circuit.
Both qualifying and the race will be broadcasted via the F1 Facebook page as well as the official F1 YouTube channel.
Main Image: Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
