Liam Lawson ‘setting up for failure’ warning as Daniel Ricciardo F1 axe confirmed

Liam Lawson has six races to impress Red Bull

Between the awkward final weekend for Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson’s preparations, Karun Chandhok does not believe Red Bull handled the driver swap well.

After an intense weekend of speculation with every second pundit claiming the Singapore Grand Prix would be Ricciardo’s last with VCARB, the Aussie left the Marina Bay paddock on Sunday night with the world still awaiting confirmation.

Liam Lawson replaces Daniel Ricciardo for the final six races of F1 2024

That came on Thursday, four days after Singapore, with the Formula 1 world denied the opportunity to give the eight-time Grand Prix winner a proper send-off.

Exiting the VCARB seat with immediate effect to make way for reserve driver Lawson, PlanetF1.com understands that the door has been left open for Ricciardo to remain in the Red Bull Racing pool. That, though, will be his decision to make.

As for Lawson, the Kiwi, who was embedded with Ricciardo’s side of the garage during the Singapore weekend, will climb into the VCARB 01 for Friday’s one and only practice session at the United States Sprint weekend without even having covered one of the team’s young driver sessions.

He did, however, drive the car at the beginning of September on a day of Pirelli testing.

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Chandhok reckons Red Bull didn’t handle the driver situation well.

“Really don’t think Red Bull have made this easy for Liam or Daniel,” former F1 driver wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Could have had a nice send-off in Singapore instead of weekend with awkward “maybes” for Daniel.

“For Liam, replacing one of the most popular drivers, in USA, straight into a Sprint weekend is a massive challenge!

“Hope they give him some testing between now and Austin to get dialled in – got to give the young drivers a proper chance or you’re setting them up for failure.”

However, Lawson, who last year filled in for Ricciardo when the Aussie broke his hand at the Dutch Grand Prix, believes he’s ready for that challenge.

“I’ve dreamed of being a Formula One driver since I was a kid, and I’m very happy to say that dream is finally coming true,” he said on X. “I want to thank VCARB and Red Bull for this opportunity, I’m extremely grateful and excited to get to work.”

Although the Kiwi is in the car for the final six races of this season, neither Red Bull nor VCARB have revealed what 2026 will hold for him.

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