Daniel Ricciardo v Liam Lawson: Red Bull shoot-out planned at Imola

Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson are set for a shootout filming day at Imola.

Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson are set for a direct comparison behind the wheel of a VCARB, as Red Bull utilise a filming day at Imola.

The two drivers are both strongly linked with the second Red Bull seat, should the Milton Keynes-based squad pull the trigger on dropping or demoting Sergio Perez from his seat for the second half of the season.

VCARB to host Red Bull prospects for Imola test

PlanetF1.com understands the situation for Sergio Perez is critical – the Mexican driver has just the Belgian Grand Prix weekend left to save his drive with Red Bull after a spate of poor weekends in which he has scored just 21 points in seven races.

With McLaren rapidly closing down Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull’s options include the demotion of Perez or, more likely, a complete parting of the ways, in order to drop either Liam Lawson or Daniel Ricciardo into the second seat.

With Perez continuing still the preference for Red Bull as the Spa weekend began, the Mexican’s performance is being gauged relative to Max Verstappen’s – rather than being dependent entirely on his final race result.

Should Perez fall short, the second option is for a driver replacement, with Red Bull uncertain whether or not to place VCARB driver and proven race winner Daniel Ricciardo in the seat after some years of more questionable results, or give a shot to promising reserve driver Liam Lawson – the Kiwi having impressed during a run as a super-sub for the injured Ricciardo last season.

PlanetF1.com now understands Red Bull will utilise the final filming day available to its two teams with VCARB set to host both Lawson and Ricciardo for a day’s filming behind the wheel of the current VCARB01, with an eye to monitoring the potential pace of both. Yuki Tsunoda is also set to take part, although the Japanese driver is not believed to be in contention for a promotion to the senior team.

The filming day will take place on Wednesday, July 31st, with the team staying on for a day’s running with an older AlphaTauri AT03 on Thursday, August 1st, as permitted under the testing of previous cars (TPC) – Ayumu Iwasa will also get the chance to drive to give the Formula 2 racer a chance behind the wheel of a relatively contemporary F1 car.

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The outings will see Ricciardo joining Lawson for the benchmarking opportunity following the latter’s recent filming day for the main Red Bull team as he drove the RB20 at Silverstone after the British Grand Prix.

It’s understood that it might not be speed alone that will decide which of the pair will be Red Bull’s preference should the team opt for change, with maturity and mental strength also said to be a key factor.

With the Mexico City Grand Prix rapidly approaching, the possibility of an F1 grid without Perez could result in a tense atmosphere for his replacement, with some concerns over how either might handle the discomfort of such a weekend.

With Lawson understood to be a strong candidate for the burgeoning Audi squad, which is yet to announce the identity of Nico Hulkenberg’s future teammate, the Kiwi’s contract situation with Red Bull sees him being able to depart later this year should he not get a race seat with one of the two Red Bull teams, and VCARB team boss Laurent Mekies said they are eager to keep Lawson “warm and happy” as the risk of another team snaffling him away increases.

“It’s a very privileged situation to be in, because not always do you have actually the next guy [Lawson] ready to go,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com, on Thursday at Spa.

“And in that case, you really know they are ready to go – they’ve raced five races with this team last year, he has been completely embedded with us since the beginning of the season.

“He does all the sim work, including at-race support. So it’s very good to know that he’s sort of ready to go. Of course, it’s frustrating for racing drivers not to be in the car.

“He’s been driving the Red Bull a couple of weeks ago, he’s going to drive our car next week in testing. There are not so many opportunities, but we try to keep him warm and happy.”

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