Liam Lawson reveals advice Daniel Ricciardo gave him after RB seat swap was confirmed

Liam Lawson has opened up on the words of advice Daniel Ricciardo shared with him following confirmation that the New Zealander would replace the Australian at RB for the remainder of the season.

After much speculation over Ricciardo’s future during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend – with the man himself acknowledging that it could potentially be his last race – the announcement was made several days later that the 35-year-old would exit the squad with immediate effect.

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This means that Lawson – who impressed whilst filling in for an injured Ricciardo at five races in 2023 – will return to the grid for the final six races of the 2024 campaign as the Red Bull stable look to assess their driver line-up options going forwards.

During an interview on New Zealand’s Newstalk ZB radio station following news of the seat swap, Lawson explained that he had been told “a couple of weeks ago” of the plans, meaning that he was aware of the upcoming changes whilst watching the action during the Singapore weekend from RB’s garage.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 20: Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Visa Cash App RB and race — Lawson was in the RB garage during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend ahead of his return to the grid for the final six races of the season

Asked how it felt to be at Marina Bay given the knowledge that he would soon be replacing Ricciardo, Lawson responded: “Not good, honestly. Singapore was definitely not an enjoyable weekend for me, just because obviously we all knew what was sort of coming.

“At the same time, Daniel has always been very good to me, in a lot of ways when I drove last year and then even this season. I’ve never felt in competition with him or anything like that, never made it feel like that.

“It wasn’t a nice feeling, but obviously this, for me, is… I get one shot at F1 and it’s come now and I’m obviously grateful for that opportunity, but I now need to take it with both hands. At the same time, he’s said the same thing to me, and he said, ‘You need to make the most of it’.”

With Ricciardo having to handle questions on his future during the weekend, the Perth native had publicly appeared to cope with it well and Lawson was quizzed on whether Ricciardo had been as good about the situation directly to him.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 21: Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Scuderia AlphaTauri and Daniel — Lawson previously substituted for Ricciardo during five races in 2023 after the Australian broke his hand

“He has,” the 22-year-old answered. “He did a very good job on the weekend, honestly. I have a huge amount of respect for how he dealt with everything.

“I can’t really imagine what that… It’s a similar position I was in last year, but obviously the guy is a lot more public and famous than I am, so he’s getting a lot of questions, and trying to sidestep those he did a very good job at.”

Lawson’s first race back in the hotseat will be the United States Grand Prix, which will take place on the weekend of October 18-20 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.