Liam Lawson shares what Daniel Ricciardo said to him when he knew ‘he wasn’t going to come back’

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Liam Lawson will replace Daniel Ricciardo at RB for the final six races of 2024. His future beyond that will be dictated by how he performs over the two triple-headers.

In a strictly sporting sense, succeeding Ricciardo isn’t an especially daunting task. Lawson already deputised for the Australian at five events last year after he broke his hand.

During that period, he performed well against Yuki Tsunoda, scoring the team’s only points. He finished ahead of the Japanese driver in two of the three races where both were classified.

Tsunoda has had the beating of Ricciardo this year, particularly in qualifying. He increased his lead to 12-6 by reaching Q3 in Singapore while his veteran teammate bowed out in Q1.

He’s also outscored the Australian by 22 points to 12, with Ricciardo only improving as the car became less capable. The benchmark, then, isn’t especially high.

But equally, Ricciardo is one of the sport’s biggest and most popular characters. Lawson returns to the grid amid widespread dismay over how his exit was handled, which creates a rather awkward situation for him to navigate.

Liam Lawson says Daniel Ricciardo told him there was ‘no hard feelings’ over RB swap

Lawson himself admitted to TV NZ that the manner of his predecessor’s departure wasn’t ‘nice’. Ricciardo’s camp were upset at the lack of clarity in Singapore, costing the eight-time race-winner an official farewell.

But it hasn’t damaged the strong relationship between the two drivers. Lawson had no control over the events of recent days and Ricciardo recognises that.

Speaking to the New Zealander shortly before the news was made official, he urged him to make the most of his opportunity. He’s well aware of the ruthless nature of F1, having lost his McLaren seat in 2022 with a year still remaining on his contract.

His magnanimous response may indicate why he’s so highly regarded among his fellow drivers. Lewis Hamilton called Ricciardo a legend, and several other F1 A-listers sent messages too.

“I honestly have a very good relationship with Daniel, and he’s always been really good to me,” Lawson 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.”

Karun Chandhok shares his ‘massive’ concern about Liam Lawson

Three of the remaining races are Sprint weekends. That means just one hour of practice before qualifying, which will be particularly challenging at an unfamiliar circuit like Austin.

Lawson is also due to take a 10-place grid penalty for the race. He carries over Ricciardo’s allocation of engine components and the planned changes could put him at the back of the grid.

RB will aware of the uniquely difficult circumstances. But Karun Chandhok says Lawson faces ‘massive’ hurdles at the US GP both on and off the track.

One would expect him to at least retain his RB seat if he doesn’t perform well enough to graduate to Red Bull. But Helmut Marko has his eyes on Franco Colapinto, so there are still alternatives.