Liam Lawson has reflected on the moment he was told he would be replacing Daniel Ricciardo. The New Zealander had already stood in for the Australian for a number of races in 2023 at the then-AlphaTauri after Ricciardo suffered an injury in Zandvoort. Lawson took over from the crowd favourite permanently after the 2024 Singapore GP. The New Zealander was left with mixed feelings: “He never said a bad word about me through it all.”
Liam Lawson made his Formula 1 debut at the 2023 Dutch GP. The then-reserve driver was summoned to replace Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian broke his wrist in a free practice. The New Zealander remembers exactly where he was when a text came through from the then-AlphaTauri. “Daniel had crashed,” Lawson recalled on the Gypsy Tales podcast. “I see him get out of the car and I can tell something’s not right. I’m standing in the Red Bull Racing garage because at that time I was still the reserve driver.”
Mixed feelings
A year later Lawson permanently took over Ricciardo’s race seat at Red Bull’s sister team. The Australian left 2024 Singapore GP. That made Lawson’s promotion a double-edged moment. “That’s just how it is in this sport: you come in as a replacement for someone else,” the New Zealander adds. “Throughout all of this he never said a bad word about me and has always been good to me. That shows what sort of person he is.”
The current Racing Bulls driver admitted he didn’t know how Ricciardo would react after he’d taken his spot. “I went over without knowing whether he thought I was the most terrible person ever. He came straight up to me and said, ‘I want you to know I have nothing against you. I know it has nothing to do with you and it’s completely separate from that.’ Since then, every time I’ve asked him for advice he’s been completely open and has given me guidance on everything over the past few years.”
