Liam Lawson admits he knew weeks before the rest of the world that Daniel Ricciardo would be ousted after the Singapore GP.
The 22-year-old rookie New Zealander will be in Ricciardo’s RB cockpit from Austin onwards, telling local NZME radio that it’s a "very cool feeling".
But he has had plenty of time to get used to the idea.
"Obviously I knew about it for the last sort of probably two weeks," Lawson said, "but until it’s out there to the world, it doesn’t ever really feel set in stone.
"It had been the plan for a long time now, this was sort of where it was leading at least."
Singapore was a painful weekend for Ricciardo, 35, as he clearly either knew or deeply suspected that he was about to be axed by team owner Red Bull.
But it’s also been difficult for Lawson, who has received plenty of online abuse from Formula 1 fans upset about the way Ricciardo was treated.
"Daniel has always been so good to me. I’ve never felt in competition with him," Lawson insisted.
It is believed Red Bull was contractually obliged to put Lawson in the Faenza-made car as soon as the energy drink company took up the 2025 option in his contract recently.
Lawson’s management has denied that, but the driver himself admitted just how awkward he felt in Singapore.
"Obviously I had a contract date that needed to be sort of fulfilled," Lawson confirmed. "So basically it was always going towards this way and then a couple of weeks ago they told me this was what was going to happen and not long after that it was set in stone."
However, he said Singapore was not a fun weekend as he served as Red Bull’s reserve driver.
"Not good, honestly," Lawson said when asked how he felt in Singapore.
"It was definitely not an enjoyable weekend for me, just because obviously we all knew what was coming. And Daniel has always been very good to me in a lot of ways.
"But obviously for me, I get one shot at F1 and it’s come now, and I’m obviously grateful for that opportunity but I now need to take it with both hands. He (Ricciardo) said the same thing and said ’you need to make the most of this’.
"Honestly, I have a huge amount of respect for how he dealt with everything because I can’t really imagine what that felt like."
Red Bull has appointed Isack Hadjar as the new reserve driver, but Lawson insists he has not been guaranteed his place on the F1 grid for 2025.
"I need to perform, basically," he said. "Basically I’ve got these six races until the end of the season. I’ll find out more as the season goes on, but I just need to do enough to stay in the seat next year."