Ricciardo acted like a mentor, not a rival – Lawson

Liam Lawson says Daniel Ricciardo helped prepare him for his opportunities in Formula 1 and never made it feel like they were in competition for a race seat at RB.

Ricciardo was dropped in favor of Lawson for the rest of the season following the last race in Singapore; the former reserve driver getting another chance after temporarily replacing the injured Australian a year ago. Lawson said he has been helped by Ricciardo throughout their time within the Red Bull set-up, and that he was aware the Australian's popularity was going to lead to a mixed reaction to his own return.

“I knew that was going to [happen], obviously,” Lawson told RACER. “I know the sort of public figure that Daniel is, and honestly, it's because he's just a great guy. And he was about the whole situation as well. With Daniel, throughout the whole year, or year and a half, that it's been like this, he's never made it feel like competition.

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“It never felt like we've been in competition for the same thing, although I guess we have been. It never felt like that. So there's a lot of things he could have not done, and said no to, that he hasn’t.

“He's helped me, honestly, quite a lot over the last 12 months. And he was very good about the whole situation in Singapore, and I guess we both knew how it was going to be when when it all came, and in the media. And that's honestly why I just hadn't really been on my phone too much.

“It’s not something that fazes me too much. I've got quite a lot to focus on, obviously going into the last six races, and that's honestly where my head's been at. I don't really have the capacity to do everything else.

“So I think it'll become a lot more real going into next week, going into Austin, because so far … if I spent the day on my phone and I actively looked at everything that's been posted, then it would probably feel a bit different. But I've been trying to avoid doing that.”