Liam Lawson has revealed that Daniel Ricciardo gave him a classy face-to-face message despite the New Zealander taking his F1 seat. VCARB announced this week that with six Grand Prix races remaining this season Lawson, 22, will be replacing the struggling Australian with immediate effect.
It follows a campaign where Ricciardo has scored just 12 points, with his best effort an eighth placed finish in Montreal.
He’s been outperformed by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, with the Japanese driver currently on 22 points, and Red Bull have opted to make the call during a four week break from F1 action, with the next race weekend in Texas from October 18-20.
Ricciardo’s camp were reportedly left angry by the lack of clarity in Singapore last weekend. Despite only finishing 18th, he did make one final contribution to his team, changing tyres late on before notching the fastest lap to deny Lando Norris an extra point.
The veteran was denied a farewell appearance though, having not been told of the decision until after he left the venue. And speaking to TV NZ, Lawson admitted he felt the situation could have been handled better, and also outlined details of his last conversation with eight-time race winner at Marina Bay.
“I honestly have a very good relationship with Daniel, and he’s always been really good to me,” he said. “So it wasn’t nice to have it unfold the way it did, but obviously I get one shot at this and I need to take it.
“I saw him before he left, and I knew at that point that he wasn’t going to come back. He was like ‘make sure you take it with both hands, good luck, there’s absolutely no hard feelings’. It’s the way the sport is.”
The comments appear to enhance Ricciardo’s reputation for being one of the most popular and personable figures on the grid. Indeed, Lewis Hamilton has since paid tribute, labelling his former title rival a ‘legend’.
Lawson, 22, is unlikely to be daunted having replaced Ricciardo for five races during the 2023 season after the 35-year-old broke his hand. During that period, he notched one top-10 finish in Singapore, and finished ahead of Tsunoda on two occasions.
The development seemingly brings down the curtain on Ricciardo’s long-term association with Red Bull, if not his F1 career entirely. He drove for the main team for five seasons from 2014 to 2018, twice finishing third in the drivers’ standings.
And following confirmation of his demotion, Christian Horner took to social media to send him an emotional goodbye, thanking him for the “wins, smiles, songs,” and adding: “You will always be a special part of the Red Bull Family.”
