Liam Lawson said he “wasn’t ready” for the online abuse sent his way by Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez fans, so changed his approach.

Lawson has gone through quite the whirlwind experience so far in his Formula 1 career, and opportunity now knocks in a major way having been confirmed as Sergio Perez’s Red Bull replacement, Lawson the next driver to take on the Max Verstappen challenge.

Liam Lawson ‘wasn’t ready’ for Ricciardo and Perez fan abuse

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

A part of the Red Bull driver fold since 2019, Lawson made his F1 debut in 2023 in place of the injured Daniel Ricciardo, though it was Ricciardo who got the nod to partner Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull second team over Lawson for F1 2024.

But, with Ricciardo struggling to make an impression in his quest to secure a Red Bull return, he was axed with Lawson returning from Austin, his six-race audition enough to convince Red Bull to promote him to the senior team for F1 2025 as Verstappen’s new team-mate, replacing Sergio Perez.

However, in an interview with The Times, Lawson reflected on the abuse he received from fans of Ricciardo and Perez, as the driver to have taken the F1 spot of both, which has resulted in him scaling back his use of social media.

“Originally I saw a lot of [the abuse] because I didn’t expect it, I wasn’t ready for that,” said Lawson.

“To be honest, I just don’t really go on social media at all anymore. I will post for my fanbase, but I won’t scroll or look through messages.

“You do the prep for F1 to be ready as a driver, and then you don’t really expect that kind of stuff, or you don’t really prepare for it, because you’re just focused on driving.”

Lawson also found himself drawing the ire of Perez and Fernando Alonso on the track in F1 2024, which included Lawson sticking the middle finger up at Perez in Mexico after their battle, after which he sought out Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to take his telling off on the chin.

“There’s nothing personal with anybody, but I [had] six races to show something,” Lawson explained.

“I’m not trying to be overly aggressive to prove anything, but I’m also not going to race any differently because somebody’s experienced or somebody’s respected in the sport.”

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But Lawson faces his toughest task to date in F1 2025 as he becomes team-mate to Verstappen, the four-time World Champion having developed the reputation of a Red Bull team-mate destroyer with Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Perez sent packing.

A common theme with that trio was expressing difficulties matching the Red Bull machinery and their driving style, Perez claiming that the Red Bull RB20 moved away from his comfort zone with its F1 2024 upgrades.

However, Lawson is not sold on the whole driving style debate in Formula 1.

“In terms of driving styles, I don’t really know if I believe in it so much in terms of a driving style,” Lawson explained to PlanetF1.com.

“I think you have certain things you like a car to do but I think also, for me, I spent a lot of time developing that car as well, as a junior and as a reserve for the last couple of years, and I feel like I understand quite well the way the car drives.

“But I also don’t fully believe in ‘This doesn’t suit your driving style’.

“I think as drivers, we’re professionals, we have to adapt to whatever we’re driving.”

With Lawson stepping up to Red Bull, Isack Hadjar has been promoted to an F1 2025 Racing Bulls seat off the back of his runner-up finish in the 2024 F2 Championship.

Read next – Isack Hadjar: Everything you need to know about Red Bull’s new F1 recruit