Daniel Ricciardo's replacement Liam Lawson tees off on Red Bull blaming F1 team for his failure

News.com.au

12 hours ago

Former Red Bull driver Liam Lawson has taken aim at the F1 juggernaut, pinning his failure to perform squarely on the team.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit officially dumped Lawson after only two events earlier this year, with the New Zealander replaced by Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.
It came after Daniel Ricciardo was unceremoniously dumped from Red Bull's second team almost a year ago, to make space for Lawson.
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Such was Lawson's immediate success in the seat once occupied by the Aussie that he was promoted to the main Red Bull Racing team alongside world champion Max Verstappen for the 2025 season.
But it would be short-lived as he was demoted just two events into the 24-round season, on the back of two horror races, replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.
And that move has hardly worked out well either, as Lawson – now back in the junior team – is ahead of Tsunoda in the drivers' championship.
But as Lawson's stock begins to rise once again, he has surprisingly decided to take a swipe at the team he ideally would want another shot at driving for.
'If you look at how other teams have approached bringing a young driver in and you look at the test days, the time in the seat, the amount of testing that, for example, Kimi [Antonelli], has done in the past before racing this year – we didn't do any of that,' Lawson told RacingNews365.
'It was two weekends on two tracks I'd never raced at, one of them being a sprint weekend. They weren't smooth weekends. We had issues in Bahrain [testing] with reliability, we had issues in Melbourne with reliability.'
It is a peculiar move to take shots at Red Bull, considering their 2026 driver line-up is still up in the air.
While Verstappen is locked in again in 2026, Tsunoda is only contracted until the end of this season, and based on recent performances, he is unlikely to retain his seat.
That would then likely lead to a promotion for either Lawson or Isack Hadjar.
French youngster Hadjar is currently ahead of Lawson in the drivers' championship, sitting in 13th on 22 points. But he has previously said he doesn't feel ready to be promoted yet.
Though the decision by Lawson to bag Red Bull could result in the team taking a chance on Hadjar or looking in a totally different direction.
Daniel Ricciardo reveals struggles post-F1 career
Lawson's comments come as Ricciardo revealed earlier this week that it has been a 'tough six months' adjusting to his new life out of the fast lane.
Ricciardo's F1 exit came without as much as a farewell lap, as his unceremonious ousting brought an end to 14 years on the Formula 1 grid. And headlining Ray White's Connect conference on Monday, when Ricciardo was asked by sports presenter Mel McLaughlin about life after F1, he said: 'Well, I haven't been shaving my face. The beard is my comfort right now.
'I had a fallout with my barber and then I lost my razor. It's been a tough six months.'
The 36-year-old then got serious, saying he realised his drive for F1 success made him somewhat 'selfish' and, since being axed from Red Bull, has been working hard to find himself and focus on what really matters in life.
'I've lived this crazy, high-speed life for so long, and I just sat into a little bit of stillness. I suddenly wasn't always surrounded by a tonne of people giving their opinions and thoughts,' Ricciardo continued.
'I've had a lot of time, I've done some hiking. I was in Alaska a few weeks ago and didn't get mauled by a grizzly, which was a bonus.
'I've been trying to figure out who I am other than this race car driver.
'I've come to appreciate the little things more and the meaning of the importance of family and friends.
'I've always been driven, and that sometimes leads you to being selfish, so I'm trying to learn to be a bit more selfless and become a better listener.'
Ricciardo left the F1 grid with eight race wins, 32 podiums and three pole positions. He also twice finished on the season's podium in the Drivers' standings in 2014 and 2016.