Why Lawson Liam will race with number 30 in F1 Austin GP: a special story behind it. Unlike last year, Liam Lawson will return to Formula 1 with the number 30.

Unlike last year, Liam Lawson will return to Formula 1 with the number 30, and there’s a special reason behind it.

In just under a week, Liam Lawson will make his return to Formula 1 as an official driver, once again at the Faenza team, just as he did twelve months ago, and once again in place of Daniel Ricciardo.

However, unlike last year, the New Zealand driver will replace the Australian on a permanent basis starting from the next race, the United States Grand Prix at COTA in Austin, while waiting to see what his future holds in the 2025 Formula 1 season.

As reported by Helmut Marko a few days ago, the 22-year-old from Hastings is in the running to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season, should he emerge victorious from the comparison with Yuki Tsunoda, who has also returned to the Milton Keynes team’s radar for the post-Perez era.

The most observant will have noticed a particular detail, specifically the race number with which Liam Lawson will compete in Texas. While in 2023 he raced the five AlphaTauri races with the number 40, this time the New Zealander has opted for the number 30.

“I’ll be racing with the number 30 because it’s the number I’ve raced with since I was eight years old,” said Liam Lawson in a short video posted on VCARB’s Instagram profile, explaining the reasons behind the number change – “In fact, it wasn’t the first number I raced with, which was 18, but in my first year of go-karting, I joined a team and there was a guy who looked after me, who became like my hero, my idol. When I was a kid in go-karting, he raced with the number 30. So I chose the number 30 for him. He taught me everything about go-karting when I was younger. I’ve kept that number ever since. I even told him I’d take our number to Formula 1, and he’s absolutely thrilled!” – he concluded.