F1 News: Liam Lawson To Race In Singapore GP Despite Daniel Riccardo's Appearance

Singapore offers Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson more chances to prove himself.

AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo will be present during the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend but, only to work with his team as an engineer, while Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson takes the wheel of his F1 car. 

The serious injury to his left metacarpal occurred during the second practice of the Dutch GP three weeks ago and thus, he had to undergo surgery. Ricciardo is reported to stay off racing duties at least for three to five Grand Prix, depending on the rate of his recovery. 

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed that Ricciardo is expected to be back in action during the Qatar Grand Prix in early October. However, Ricciardo “will be present with the team in Singapore only for engineering purposes”. This was confirmed during AlphaTauri's official pre-event media preview just recently.  

Lawson on the other hand seems like he is having a good time learning many things behind the wheel of Ricciardo's AT04, revealing in the same press release that the race at Monza was better than Zandvoort. He said:

“When you get more comfortable in these kinds of cars, it can make quite a big difference.

"Having done two races now, I’m also getting a better understanding of the difference between the tyre compounds, which is so important.

"I’d say Monza was pretty successful, even if it was disappointing to finish so close to the points.

"I think if I had had a better start, perhaps things could have been different, but it’s something that I will learn from, and I’m just excited moving forward."

The 21-year-old also revealed his liking for street circuits, despite adding that the Singapore GP would be more challenging physically. He said:

"I know this is a very tough race physically, and when you get thrown into F1 in this situation, even with all the training in the world, it’s still such a tough adjustment.

"It’s going to be extremely difficult, but we’ve been training for it and doing everything we can to prepare for that.

"Last year, I experienced the night-time routine [as Red Bull’s reserve]. It’s cool, to be honest, to go through a weekend like that. It’s a bit different to normal.

"Obviously, the biggest adjustment will be getting used to the track, as I’ve only driven it on the sim, and street circuits are probably the hardest to replicate.

"They take confidence, and when you’re new to the track, or even my situation being new to Formula 1, having that confidence early in the weekend is pretty tricky.

"I’ll be aiming to build up as many laps as we can, a bit like Monza, to be honest. That was the target there, and it will be a similar sort of thing.

"Generally, I like street circuits, for example, I absolutely love Monaco, so I’m expecting to enjoy Singapore too."