Liam Lawson recalls the help from Daniel Ricciardo and receiving text message after Baku, as he highlights their relation post his F1 departure.
It is now one year since Lawson replaced Ricciardo at Visa Cash App RB. The Singapore GP was the Australian’s last and since then, he has moved on from racing competitions. He has been quiet for most part until last month when he was named brand ambassador of Ford Raptor.
It is still outside of racing – a thing the Australian says he has moved on from now. He couldn’t ‘celebrate’ his final F1 race since he was not allowed to confirm, but it pointed towards an end, the way he was handling business with everyone around.
Lawson recalls the moment and the respect he has for Ricciardo. “Obviously it wasn’t public and Daniel was kind of not saying anything that you wanted to say,” he said to media. “I mean for us it was obviously extremely uncomfortable. And I think the only thing I took away from it was how much of a good person Daniel is.
“And how he was to me through the whole journey from when I first came into this. When he had his injury to going back to reserve, we had a very good relationship. We still do honestly. And he’s somebody that’s…Yeah, I think my only take away from that weekend last year was just how much respect I have for him,” summed up Lawson.
The Kiwi revealed receiving text message from Ricciardo post the weekend in Baku where Lawson registered his best F1 result. Lawson thinks the Australian has seen past it now and not thinking actively about racing as much. “Yeah, he’s sent me a nice message after Baku,” he said. “And he’s obviously off on his own journey at the moment. But he’s just somebody who’s been very supportive.
“Obviously, we’re from the same part of the world as well. So it’s something that we probably both understand. It’s quite difficult to get to this point and we’re both very lucky. Barely anyone’s seen him. Yeah, he’s been out in the open a little bit. Probably needs to shave his beard in most people’s opinions. He’s had a long career in Formula 1. And I think for me it’s very new.
“So obviously I’m somebody who’s trying to stay in the sport and have a future in the sport. But at some point it’s very personal. It’s whatever you decide. It’d be very hard for me to speak on behalf of his feelings because it’s very different points of our careers,” summed up Lawson.
Here’s Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson on Singapore GP