Speculation rises around Yuki Tsunoda's future as AlphaTauri reportedly looking at a Daniel Ricciardo-Liam Lawson lineup for 2024

Recent reports are flying about how AlphaTauri are planning to keep Daniel Ricciardo and replace Yuki Tsunoda with rookie Liam Lawson for 2024. Red Bull's sister team has been in the news, particularly for changing so many drivers in the 2023 F1 season.

The team started off with rookies Nyck De Vries and Yuki Tsunoda. After nearly half a season, De Vries was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo. Recently, in the 2023 F1 Dutch GP, Ricciardo suffered a hand injury and was replaced by Red Bull junior Liam Lawson.

Now, as per ESPN's Nate Saunders, Lawson is the prime candidate to replace Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri. Though the Japanese driver has showcased tremendous consistency even with one of the slowest cars on the grid, young Lawson performed brilliantly at the chaotic Dutch GP, which was anything but an easy race, even for seasoned F1 drivers.

Furthermore, AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bayer was extremely impressed by Liam Lawson and praised him during a recent exclusive interview with PlanetF1. He said:

“Liam has been amazing, honestly. What he did is, I think… I have a huge amount of respect for him and his achievements here in the paddock. Zandvoort was probably the worst possible baptism that you can possibly have, you know? I mean, raining, the track in Zandvoort was wet then dry, right? It was everything that you possibly would not wish for. Still, he did a very good job.”

With Daniel Ricciardo pretty much locked in for AlphaTauri for 2024, questions will gradually arise about Yuki Tsunoda's future with the team. Only time will tell which driver lineup the Italian team will keep for next season.

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Christian Horner on when Daniel Ricciardo could return to AlphaTauri after recovering from his Dutch GP injury

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner recently spoke about Daniel Ricciardo and when he could get back to racing with AlphaTauri. The Honey Badger broke his hand bone during a crash in a practice session at the Dutch GP. Horner feels that the Australian wouldn't be ready for the Singapore GP, and even for the Japanese GP.

"Certainly Singapore, I don’t think there’s any chance he’ll be ready for then, and I think it would be optimistic for Japan, but his recovery is going well, he’s got mobility of the hand, and he’s into rehabilitation now." Horner said (via SkySportsF1)

Liam Lawson will continue to compete in Formula 1 and prove his worth until Ricciardo recovers from the injury.