Revealed: When Liam Lawson ‘knew’ about his promotion and Daniel Ricciardo’s exit

Liam Lawson knew weeks before Daniel Ricciardo that he would replace the Australian at VCARB at the United States Grand Prix.

Two weeks before to be precise if reports Ricciardo was only formally informed by Christian Horner in Singapore are true.

Liam Lawson: I knew about it for the last two weeks

Failing to live up to expectations that leant towards him returning to Red Bull and taking Sergio Perez’s race seat, Ricciardo is the Red Bull pool driver who has found himself on the sidelines after Thursday’s announcement he would be replaced by Lawson with immediate effect.

The Kiwi, who substituted for Ricciardo at VCARB last season when he broke his hand, will be in the car from Austin onwards in what’s effectively a six-race audition for a place on the F1 2025 grid.

The announcement brought an end to months of speculation about Ricciardo’s future that culminated in one intense weekend, but fans were left disgruntled by Red Bull and VCARB’s failure to give him a proper send-off.

After all, the public didn’t know he was leaving. But apparently, Lawson did.

“I knew about it for the last two weeks,” he told Newstalk ZB of his call-up to replace Ricciardo. “But until it is out there to the world, it obviously does not ever really feel set in stone.”

According to reports, even Ricciardo didn’t know that long.

Sky Sports News claims he was only formally told of his fate during a meeting with Red Bull team boss Horner at the Marina Bay circuit.

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Lawson went on to confirm reports that a contract clause had to be activated by Red Bull before the end of September or they risked losing him to a rival team.

But just because they opted to use it this season, that doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed a race seat for F1 2025.

“I’ve basically got to the end of the season, and then I’ll find out more. At this stage, it’s the six races plus the three sprints,” he said.

“I need to perform basically. I need to try and show my worth in F1 and do a similar job to what I did last year.

“That’s what’s given me the job now – what happened last year. So I just need to do enough to stay in the seat next year.”

Although Ricciardo himself has not confirmed when he was told that his VCARB days were over, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says he was “informed” in Singapore .

“[The timing of the announcement] was related to a variety of factors and obligations,” he told Motorsport.com. “He was informed, and the worthy farewell performance was, I think, the fastest lap.

“I think it was clearly communicated that he has to be significantly better than Yuki Tsunoda and he only managed that in a few races, so it was clear that this story of the prodigal son rejoining Red Bull Racing unfortunately didn’t work out.

“He said very well that he is at peace with himself, and he has come to terms with the situation and we will see what his plans for the future are.”

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