SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 13: Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls looks on in

Why Lawson deserves to keep his seat at Racing Bulls

IndyCar Race Winner and AnalystJames Hinchcliffe

Picture this: you are running for a midfield Formula 1 team. You have been the de facto leader since the start of the campaign. You are currently ninth in the Drivers’ Championship standings – best of the rest behind those racing for the big four teams – with a healthy buffer to your next closest challenger.

Your efforts have helped propel your team to a (relatively) comfortable fifth in the constructors’ table. When your sister team needed a substitution driver, they didn’t look to their reserve driver, they plucked you out of your team and trusted you with the seat in the main squad.

And you’re one point shy of doubling your highly touted team mate’s points tally for the year.