A second mid-season driver swap has been confirmed with Liam Lawson stepping in to replace Daniel Ricciardo for the rest of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
This is Lawson's second stint as a driver for Red Bull's #2 team, but he's never been part of the F1 game series as a full F1 driver.
He was part of F1 23's F2 roster at the start of the game, as it used the 2022 Formula 2 lineup, but soon removed when the fresh driver roster came in.
So will he finally be added to F1 24 now that his seat is confirmed for the rest of the year?
Liam Lawson in F1 24
The talented Kiwi has spent time in DTM and Super Formula along with two seasons in Formula 2 before getting his call-up to F1 as an injury replacement to Ricciardo in 2023.
Lawson's five-race stint with AlphaTauri was impressive enough to earn interest from around the grid, but it didn't result in a full 2024 and he was once again named as Red Bull's reserve driver.
However, with a potential exit in his Red Bull contract approaching, he's been handed the VCARB seat for the rest of the season. While not yet official, he will likely keep the seat for the 2025 season too.
So, will Codemasters add him to the F1 24 game? Well, hopefully. The 1.10 update for F1 23 added Daniel Ricciardo into the game when he replaced Nyck de Vries part-way through the 2023 season.
Codemasters also has Lawson's likeness on file already thanks to his F2 participation. While it might need a refresh, all the game files for him are already built and in the Codies archive.
Any update to the driver roster that includes Lawson would likely remove Ricciardo, and potentially fulfill the Franco Colapinto/Logan Sargent swap at Williams as well.
That's a trickier swap, as it means adding Oliver Goethe to the Formula 2 roster as well. But there is no such blocker with the Lawson addition.
It would be great if Codemasters could have both of them in the game, giving players options for a My Team save, but their hands could be tied due to licensing.
Fans will have to wait and see, but a groundswell of social media posts requesting his addition could see EA and Codemasters act.
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