Lawson leans on Ricciardo for Montreal advice

Ricciardo consistently showed strong form at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, winning his first Grand Prix there in 2014 and qualifying fifth and finishing eighth in his final season.

Lawson, who replaced Ricciardo at the team after the Singapore Grand Prix last year, said that while he isn’t expecting to match Ricciardo’s results this year, he was keen to pick his brain ahead of his first race in Montreal.

“I actually spoke to Daniel last week about this track and he loved it,” Lawson said. “(He said) use lots of kerb. That’s probably the main one.

The 23-year-old pointed out that while last year’s results are a reference point, recent races have shown that past success doesn’t guarantee the same again.

“It’s good to know that the car was fast last year, but at the same time, it’s quite often now that we look at last year’s results and, to be honest, they don’t repeat themselves a lot of the time,” Lawson said.

“Tracks that maybe we haven’t been strong at, we’ve actually been strong at this year, and vice versa. So I think we just have to take it like any weekend.”

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Despite his cautious outlook, Lawson said he’s excited to race on the “iconic” and “fun” track.

“It’s a bit unique compared to most tracks that we drive on,” he said. “It can be quite bumpy, and obviously there is a lot of kerb use around it. So, yeah, I think it’s unique, it’s something that we all enjoy, and I’m looking forward to it.”

He also highlighted the track’s reputation for hard racing, with big braking zones and double DRS zones, plus the potential for rapidly changing weather conditions.

“It is a track that creates racing, which is cool,” Lawson said. “Having double DRS zones behind each other always creates that, and big braking zones into hairpin corners.

“Obviously, the weather here as well—it looks alright at the moment, but in the past, it’s changed very, very quickly. So we have to be on top of it.”

The Canadian Grand Prix gets underway on Monday at 4am AEST.