Minichamps 1:43 AlphaTauri AT04 – Liam Lawson, Dutch GP 2023 Art. 417231440

A 1:43 model of the Scuderia AlphaTauri AT04 as raced by Liam Lawson at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, carrying car number 40. Resin, in a protective display case.

He was told on the Friday and raced on the Sunday

Daniel Ricciardo crashed in second practice at Zandvoort and broke a bone in his hand. AlphaTauri needed a driver for qualifying the next morning.

Liam Lawson was the reserve. He had driven the car in one practice session earlier in the year, had never raced it, had never seen the circuit in a Formula One car, and the weather was appalling.

He qualified twentieth and finished thirteenth in a race where ten cars retired, keeping it out of the barriers through two changes of conditions and a red flag — which, for a driver in his first Grand Prix, is the entire job.

He then kept the seat for four more races while Ricciardo healed, and scored a point at Singapore.

Car number 40

That number is the mark of a substitute. Formula One drivers choose a permanent number for their career, from 2 to 99; a reserve called up mid-season is assigned one from what is unclaimed, and 40 has passed between several stand-ins over the years.

It means the car in this model wore a number that Lawson did not use again once he became a full-time driver — he took 30. Five races exist with 40 on the nose.

In the range

Set 417231401 is Max Verstappen's winning Red Bull from the same Grand Prix.

Specifications

Scale: 1:43 · Resin · Protective display case · Limited edition · Age: 14+
Sponsor detail: AlphaTauri, Honda, Pirelli and team partners