Liam Lawson subject of Daniel Ricciardo fan abuse after Red Bull VCARB decision

Liam Lawson has said he tried to avoid reading abuse against him as he replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull VCARB for the rest of F1 2024.

Red Bull’s decision to drop Daniel Ricciardo from its driver line-up by replacing the VCARB driver with Liam Lawson resulted in Ricciardo fans expressing their anger and frustrations on social media – with Lawson haplessly caught up in the maelstrom.

Liam Lawson: I tried not to look too much at it

Building up to his first race as a full-time replacement F1 driver after substituting for Ricciardo at six races last year, Lawson’s head wasn’t turned by the extent of the anger as he explained to media including PlanetF1.com how he was well aware of what individual driver fandoms can be like.

“I think, honestly, I was pretty well aware of how the sport is,” he said of the vitriol surrounding his appointment as Ricciardo’s replacement at VCARB.

“I’ve seen enough over the last couple of years with other drivers. It didn’t have to be me to see exactly what it’s like.

“To be honest, I tried not to look into it too much.”

With so much on his plate preparing for his six-race audition for a full-time seat in F1 2025, Lawson said he concentrated his mind on the task at hand rather than public sentiment.

“Over the last couple of weeks, we had so much to go through, preparations-wise, that’s I didn’t really have too much time to look into that,” he said.

“So I have a chance to obviously show the team and show everybody on track what I can do, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

More on Red Bull in Formula 1

? All the mid-season driver swaps Red Bull have made in their F1 history

? Inside Red Bull: Christian Horner and the other major players in Red Bull’s hierarchy

Liam Lawson: Home support from New Zealand has been very positive

On the flip side of that negativity, Lawson said he’s been able to feel the weight of the support from his home nation as he becomes the 10th driver from New Zealand to race in Formula 1 – following in the footsteps of luminaries like Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme.

“It’s very, very cool,” he said.

“It’s something I felt for a long time, especially the last couple of years, getting closer to Formula 1 – the support from home has been very positive, especially after I drove last year.

“So to feel that for the last couple of weeks now, the sort of messages and support I’ve seen is pretty cool.

“It’s something that’s… it’s obviously tough from New Zealand. It’s very, very hard. It’s an unrealistic dream that a lot of people don’t think is possible.

“So part of me is also, as much as I want to do this for my dream, I also want to prove to everybody home that it is possible to go into Formula 1.”

But while the fans of Ricciardo may be feeling some anguish about the events of recent weeks as Lawson took over the Australian’s seat, Lawson revealed he and Ricciardo enjoy a friendly and collaborative relationship that never soured despite the competition over the VCARB cockpit.

“Honestly, he’s been somebody that’s never made it feel like a competition,” he said.

“Over the last 12 months, he’s never been somebody that I’ve really felt directly in competition with – we spoke every weekend.

“To be honest, I spent a lot of time with him over the weekends as well, going through stuff. He’s always been open with advice and through all of the events that happened leading up to Singapore and through Singapore, he was also made it very clear that there was nothing against me directly.

“In fact, when I left at the end of the weekend and spoke to him, he said, ‘Good luck with everything, you get one shot at F1 and make sure you make the most of it’, and wished me well.

“Obviously, I have a huge amount of respect for him.”

Read next: Sergio Perez contract ‘useless’ as Helmut Marko confirms ‘end of season’ Red Bull decision