Liam Lawson's performance in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been described as "phenomenal" by British racing driver Jamie Chadwick, although she believes Isack Hadjar should get a promotion to Red Bull over him.
Lawson delivered a career-best result at the Baku City Circuit to finish fifth, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris and both Ferrari drivers.
The New Zealander drove superbly in tricky conditions to qualify on the second row in third, and spent the majority of the grand prix defending perfectly against quicker drivers.
It was an excellent example of what Lawson is capable of in F1, with Chadwick having been impressed by how he handled the significant pressure while defending from Tsunoda, Norris and Hamilton in the final laps.
"I think Liam was phenomenal," said Chadwick on the Sky F1 show podcast. "He was great, actually, if you watch quite closely with the race, even things like his out laps, the aggressiveness.
"I know he's been called out for being too aggressive at times, but he sort of timed it perfectly, and he had a huge amount of pressure at the end of that race, and just batted it all off with ease, and then obviously qualifying under incredibly tricky conditions.
"So he was incredibly impressive at the weekend."
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Hadjar the Racing Bulls star
Despite Lawson's strong result, Chadwick still believes Hadjar has been the star in the Red Bull sister team.
Hadjar entered F1 this year with many in the paddock having very low expectations, making his consistent form catch many by surprise.
The French-Algerian has been a regular in Q3 and the points, while Lawson took several races to get back into a rhythm after being demoted by Red Bull.
As a result, Chadwick backs Hadjar to be handed Tsunoda's seat next season and to partner Max Verstappen.
"But you have to look at Isack Hadjar as the season goes," added Chadwick. "And in my opinion, he's been stronger, and he's come in as a rookie. He surprised all of us.
"And if you're Red Bull, you look at that and you can't think, 'Oh, actually, no I'm going to leave you there in the junior team. I'm going to wait until you start performing, and actually just keep our drivers at the moment.'
"They've got to start really taking him seriously and then having a look at him. In my opinion, Isack's performed at the highest level of one of those sort of second seat drivers, second team drivers, so to speak.
"And for that reason, I think he's got to be a serious contender for the Red Bull seat next year."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix! Oscar Piastri's shock Baku crashes are a major talking point, as is whether Max Verstappen has drawn himself back into the F1 title fight.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
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