Lawson: Ricciardo thought he'd let me have another weekend

Ricciardo's absence from Formula 1 continues, as he continues to recover from a fractured hand following a crash during practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, as the Qatar Grand Prix will be the fifth race the Honey Badger misses in a row.

But as the folly of one man is the fortune of another, Lawson has been enjoying a strong F1 debut replacing Ricciardo at AlphaTauri even scoring points in Singapore with a ninth place finish, making sure he makes a positive impression before handing over to the Australian driver who has been confirmed as the team's driver for 2024 alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

Facing the media in Qatar on Thursday, Lawson was asked when he got to know he'd be driving this weekend, he said: "On Monday.

"So, I was sitting at lunch and had a random number call me and it was a FaceTime. So I was really confused because people don't just FaceTime randomly so I answered it and it was just Daniel's face and he basically said that he thought he'd let me have another weekend.

"So yeah, obviously good to be back, good to be in the car. This weekend's a very different circuit but I'm excited," Lawson maintained.

Quizzed whether the uncertainty has an effect on his preparations, he explained: "To be honest, after Japan I guess it was looking more likely that we'd be driving so we just carried on preparing like normal.

"Obviously I didn't assume I was driving but we just prepped like a normal situation like I would be so it's a bit different. Obviously, I want to be here full time but just trying to make the most of this," he added.

Lawson further revealed that Ricciardo is targeting a return to the AlphaTauri seat for the grand prix in Austin, he said: "I think that's definitely the target. I think that's more likely.

"I would say it's more likely that he would be back in Austin, but obviously I can't say for certain. But yeah, obviously, we have over a week to say to give more time to be ready for it so I would say it's probably Austin," he pointed out.

This weekend in Qatar will be the first time Lawson takes part in the F1 Sprint format, he predicted: "I think it's going to be quite tough: obviously my first sprint weekend, we have less practice time.

"It's the same for everybody but obviously I haven't been here before so I think it's going to be different. But I'm excited to at least experiences a sprint weekend before I step back again.

"I think all of us are waiting for it to be as cool as possible so we'll do that later," Lawson said when asked if he walked the Lusail track, "but it looks – at least from the simulator – it looks pretty cool.

"It just looks very fast, lots of high speed so I don't know how we're going to fare this weekend in terms of pace, but I'm excited to drive the track," he concluded.