Liam Lawson admits he had ZERO idea about Qatar proxy and only got to know about it from Daniel Ricciardo via FaceTime

Qatar GP, if not for an injury or illness to a Red Bull driver, will be the last F1 race of the 2023 season for Liam Lawson.

Liam Lawson admits he had ZERO idea about Qatar proxy and only got to know about it from Daniel Ricciardo via FaceTime

Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and Daniel Ricciardo (Via IMAGO)

Liam Lawson has been filling in for Daniel Ricciardo since the Aussie’s crash earlier at the Dutch GP. Many expected the Veteran Ricciardo to come back in his AlphaTauri at the Lusail Circuit for the Qatar GP. That, however, wouldn’t be the case as Liam Lawson was surprisingly announced as the driver for the Grand Prix by AlphaTauri. Lawson has now revealed the hilarious story of how he received this news.

The 21-year-old apparently received a random FaceTime video call on his number at lunch. Lawson explained to Formula1.com,“On Monday, I was sitting at lunch, and I had a random number call me, and it was a FaceTime. So I was really confused because people don’t just FaceTime randomly, and it was just Daniel’s face.”

Lawson added how Ricciardo had called to notify him about his driver in Qatar: “He basically said that he thought he would let me have another weekend.” It would have been a sensational thing if any other driver were to do this, but Ricciardo is known precisely for such antiques.

Lawson was asked about Ricciardo’s return and said, “I would say it’s more likely that he will be back in Austin, but obviously I can’t say for certain. But obviously we have over a week to give more time for him to be ready for it. So, I would say it’s probably Austin.” There are many, in and out of the Paddock, who await the familiar smiling face of Ricciardo. It will be good to see the driver at COTA.

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Daniel Ricciardo’s unfortunate past few years

To say that Daniel Ricciardo has had a tumultuous past few years would be an understatement. Ricciardo rose to fame as he displayed brilliant pace in his Red Bull years. The Australian was on the team from 2014-18. He was moved up from Red Bull’s B team – Torro Rosso at the end of 2013.

Daniel Ricciardo (via Imago)
Daniel Ricciardo (via Imago)

Ricciardo decided to switch to Renault in 2019, and his fortunes got dimmer. The French team had to concede to McLaren in the mid-table battle, only finishing in 5th place. Ricciardo moved to McLaren in 2021. His tenure at McLaren seemed welcoming initially as he took the Woking-based team to their first win since 2012.

But McLaren was hit with the regulation changes in 2022, and with the team, Ricciardo started to struggle as well. His contract was cut short after McLaren decided to opt for Piastri and left Daniel without a seat in 2023. AlphaTauri offered the driver a seat midway through the season. He’s slated to return in 2024 with AlphaTauri, and fans will hope that fortune favors the Aussie

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