Lawson: Singapore was not an enjoyable weekend

Lawson revealed that he knew about Red Bull's decision to place him at VCARB to replace Ricciardo almost two weeks before the official announcement.

That meant he knew in the Formula 1 weekend in Singapore, where he was on reserve duties, that race would be Ricciardo's last and that he would be racing as his replacement in the US Grand Prix in Austin.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB radio station in New Zealand, Lawson was asked how he felt as the media bombarded Ricciardo with questions about his future.

"Not good, honestly," he responded. "Singapore was definitely not an enjoyable weekend for me, just because obviously we all knew what was sort of coming.

"At the same time, Daniel has always been very good to me, in a lot of ways when I drove last year and then even this season. I’ve never felt in competition with him or anything like that, never made it feel like that.

“It wasn’t a nice feeling, but obviously this, for me, is… I get one shot at F1 and it’s come now and I’m obviously grateful for that opportunity, but I now need to take it with both hands. At the same time, he’s said the same thing to me, and he said, ‘You need to make the most of it’," the Kiwi explained.

Lawson hailed Ricciardo for the manner in which he conducted himself over the course of his final weekend in the top flight and revealed the Australian has been good to him as well.

"He has," the 22-year-old responded when asked if Ricciardo was good with him and added: "He did a very good job on the weekend, honestly. I have a huge amount of respect for how he dealt with everything.

"I can’t really imagine what that… It’s a similar position I was in last year," he explained, referring to how he felt in 2023 when he knew he will have to make way for Ricciardo to come back despite an impressive debut.

"But obviously the guy is a lot more public and famous than I am, so he’s getting a lot of questions, and trying to sidestep those he did a very good job at," Lawson insisted.

Lawson will drive for VCARB in the final six races of the 2024 F1 season but insisted his future with the team in 2025 is yet to be confirmed.