New Zealand young gun Liam Lawson reveals discussions he had with Daniel Ricciardo at his farewell race in Singapore

Liam Lawson will jump into Daniel Ricciardo’s former seat at RB from this weekend’s US Grand Prix. The young gun reveals the discussions he had behind the scenes at the Singapore Grand Prix – and the advice the Australian gave him.

New Zealand young gun Liam Lawson has opened up on the conversations he shared with Daniel Ricciardo about taking his seat at RB during a “difficult weekend” at the Singapore Grand Prix and the parting advice the Australian gave him.

Ahead of Lawson’s first race for RB since Ricciardo’s axing from the Red Bull sister team at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, the Kiwi revealed he had sought out the eight-time Grand Prix winner and had apologised for the situation, which he described as “not nice”.

Both drivers were aware of the decision regarding Ricciardo’s RB seat in Singapore, but there would not be any official confirmation from the team until the following week.

An emotional Ricciardo alluded to the end when he was probed about his future after the night race when he declared he was “at peace” with the curtain closing on his F1 career.

Lawson revealed he had spoken to Ricciardo about the team’s driver change during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and said the Australian had been supportive.

Daniel Ricciardo at the Singapore Grand Prix. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

The 22-year-old added he had never felt like he was in “direct competition” with Ricciardo, who he had always been open to offer advice.

“Luckily he’s a great guy,” Lawson told formula1.com.

“He knew it was nothing to do with me. And that’s probably the thing with Daniel for the whole time we’ve been in this situation.

“Even for the last 12 months, it’s never felt like we were in direct competition as much as we all are in the sport in some way.

“With Daniel, it never really felt like that, he was always good to me, he was always open to giving advice when I was driving. He was good to me throughout the year, in any way he could be.

New Zealand young gun Liam Lawson has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

“So, it never felt like we were in direct competition for a seat. We were also at very different points in our career, so that’s something that probably helped that.

“I went and saw him and said obviously sorry about this whole situation as it’s not nice, and sorry you had to go through it. But he said there’s obviously nothing against me, and he said ‘You get one shot at F1, make sure you take it’ and he said ‘Good luck’.”

Lawson, who subbed for Ricciardo after the former Red Bull driver broke his hand not long after his mid-season RB call-up last year, said the Singapore race had been a tough one behind the scenes.

“It was definitely a difficult weekend for all of us, especially for Daniel,” Lawson said.

“It’s something that we knew going in what the situation was. For me, I was lucky. I didn’t have to do too much media, I could keep myself away from that.

“But it wasn’t like that for all of us.”

Daniel Ricciardo finished in 18th place in what might be his last F1 drive. Picture: Getty

Lawson is now focused on his immediate goal of beating teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the remainder of the season – with the longer term ambition of putting his hand up for a Red Bull drive.

“The conversations have always been in the direction of becoming a Red Bull driver in the future and that’s what I’ve said to them – that’s what I want to become, that’s why I joined the team and want to stay with them and join them in F1,” Lawson said.

“That’s my goal and their goal, I think, is to have drivers to replace current drivers in the future at some point. That’s the goal. When that could happen, I have no absolutely idea. But I know it’ll be based on how I perform in the car.”

Lawson’s comments came as former F1 world champion Jenson Button said he was not comfortable with Red Bull’s mid-season ejection of drivers following Ricciardo’s axing.

The 2009 world champion felt drivers deserved the opportunity to complete the full season.

“It’s a funny one, because there’s only one team really that brings in drivers mid-season, takes drivers out of the seat mid-season, or three races in, six races in, and that team is Red Bull and (RB),” Button told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

“It is unusual, and I’ve never seen that in my career, unless someone’s been putting it in the wall every race and it’s like: ‘You know what? We can’t afford to have you in the car.’

“So it’s a weird one. I’ve never felt comfortable with that, always I feel that a driver deserves a season to really show what he can do, because that’s what it is, right?

“It’s a championship, and it’s how many points you can score through that season, not just halfway through – but they’ve always done it a different way.”

Originally published as New Zealand young gun Liam Lawson reveals discussions he had with Daniel Ricciardo at his farewell race in Singapore