The RB Formula 1 team has officially confirmed Liam Lawson will replace Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Lawson will step into the car at next month's United States Grand Prix and complete the remaining six grands prix alongside Yuki Tsunoda.
Earlier on Thursday Red Bull and its sister team paid tribute to Ricciardo's 14-year F1 career on their social media accounts, before the widely anticipated news was confirmed that Lawson will return to the RB cockpit for the rest of the season.
"Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us," stated RB team principal Laurent Mekies. "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.”
The announcement only confirmed Lawson for the remaining six grands prix of the current season, with no word on a drive in 2025 as Red Bull is keen to keep its options open within its driver line-ups across both squads.
The 22-year-old New Zealander, who was picked up by Red Bull's junior programme in 2019, will now get another opportunity to compare himself with RB's fourth-year driver Tsunoda and stake a claim for a seat in either team for 2025 and beyond.
In June it was announced Tsunoda would stay put for a fifth season at RB in 2025, but it is not out of the question either he or Lawson may yet replace Red Bull's Sergio Perez if the squad is poised to make a change during the off-season.
Last year Lawson completed five grands prix for RB, then named AlphaTauri, subbing for the injured Ricciardo. Lawson impressed by scoring points with a ninth place in Singapore before initially returning to a reserve role, but is now seen as a better future bet for a Red Bull seat than Ricciardo.
The 35-year-old Australian was brought back into the fold last summer to replace underperforming Nyck de Vries, as a way to put pressure on Perez. But he has since struggled to consistently match and beat Tsunoda, leading to an early exit.
As a Red Bull junior Ricciardo made his F1 debut in 2011 for HRT, before moving onto Toro Rosso and then Red Bull's main team in 2014.
He took seven of his eight grand prix wins for the squad alongside Sebastian Vettel and then Max Verstappen before leaving for Renault and then McLaren, but was dropped by the latter at the end of the 2022 season after two frustrating years.
Ricciardo now leaves F1 a second time after 257 starts, eight wins and three pole positions.
