Lawson to replace Ricciardo for remainder of season

New Zealander Liam Lawson will be replacing Daniel Ricciardo at RB alongside Yuki Tsunoda for the remainder of the season.

Red Bull and RB confirmed Ricciardo would be leaving the team and expressed their gratitude for his efforts across two stints with the Red Bull family.

Ricciardo returned to a Formula 1 race seat last year in Hungary with AlphaTauri and stayed on when they became RB for this season.
Ricciardo scored points on five occasions, including a superb fourth in the Sprint in Miami, and sits 14th in the drivers’ standings, 10 points behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

However, his form hasn’t been enough to convince the Red Bull family to keep him on. It remains unclear what the future holds for Ricciardo but it’s very unlikely to involve a race seat on the 2025 Formula 1 grid.

RB then announced Lawson would step up from his reserve role, which he’s held since 2022 starting with the upcoming United States Grand Prix in Austin.

Lawson first made his Grand Prix debut at Zandvoort last year as a super sub for injured Ricciardo.
The 22 year old delivered an impressive set of results across a five race period, including his first points with ninth at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us. He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the Team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit. Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile. He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family. I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam. He already knows the Team well. He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it’ll be a natural transition. It’s great to see young talent from within the Red Bull family make the next step. We’re looking forward to getting our heads down and focusing on the rest of the season together.
Laurent Mekies on the news.