Daniel Ricciardo shows true colours as junior driver makes Italian GP admission

03 September 2023 , 12:48

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Daniel Ricciardo shows true colours as junior driver makes Italian GP admission

Liam Lawson revealed support and advice from Daniel Ricciardo as he continues to fill in for the injured Aussie at Monza this weekend.

Lawson, a Red Bull junior driver, made his Formula 1 debut last Sunday at the Dutch Grand Prix. He was already at the track and thrust into the AlphaTauri race seat at short notice after Ricciardo crashed in practice and broke a bone in his hand.

The 34-year-old remains sidelined by the injury and will play no part in the Italian Grand Prix. So Lawson remains in the AlphaTauri hot seat, having finished 13th on debut at Zandvoort.

On his first full F1 race weekend, Lawson is hoping to produce another impressive performance and make the most of the opportunity he has. And, speaking to Sky Sports, he spoke about the help he has been given by both Ricciardo and team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

"Yuki has been very supportive which is obviously great as a team-mate. Before the race last week, Daniel as well offered all the advice he could give," he said. "Both really supportive guys, and same with the team. They’ve been extremely helpful with trying to get me up to speed as quickly as possible."

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Lawson has been in the cockpit of an F1 car before, but doing so under race conditions is a wholly different challenge. He explained as much as he reflected on his first taste of doing exactly that.

He added: "It's so complex to drive a Formula 1 car that that's really the challenge. It's not so much just driving, but it's basically being able to operate everything and being comfortable with everything behind the wheel.

"That's really the main thing that we've focused on during the week and trying to basically familiarise myself with how to operate the car, so that in a racing situation especially, I can be comfortable."

Lawson will continue to race for the team until Ricciardo recovers, which may mean one or two more appearances after Monza. The Singapore Grand Prix in two weeks was first given as a tentative date for the Aussie's return but, given the extremely physical nature of that track, the expectation is that Lawson will drive again at the night race.

Daniel Moxon