Liam Lawson recalls Daniel Ricciardo 'dislike' risk

Liam Lawson has acknowledged it would have been “very easy” for Daniel Ricciardo to dislike him after taking his seat at Racing Bulls.

Ricciardo departed the Faenza-based squad, and ultimately F1, after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

He was replaced by Lawson who received his second call-up to the team, having replaced Ricciardo for a stint the year before when the Australian was injured.

Ricciardo has not raced competitively since departing the F1 grid and has instead focused on other projects.

When asked if he still speaks with Ricciardo, Lawson told Sky F1: “Yeah, off and on. He's living his best life at the moment,.

“The biggest one, obviously, was 2024 when I jumped in.

“Through that whole process, it would have been very, very easy for him to have a big dislike towards me.

“But he didn't, he was very, very supportive. It was really, really cool.

“And then after that, as well, anything I needed help on, he'd pick up the phone and answer. Honestly, it was cool.”

Lawson shared insight into one such recent interaction he had with Ricciardo, after he came across a photo of the eight-time grand prix winner in his younger days on the F1 grid. 

“I found the greatest photo of him the other day, I did send it straight to him,” he said.

“Prime Daniel Ricardo with the braces. I had no idea that he arrived in F1 with braces!”