Sergio Perez's replacement at Red Bull pulls back the curtain on dealing with fan abuse during his career

Red Bull driver Liam Lawson has shared that he faced a lot of abuse after he replaced Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez on the team within a matter of months. The Kiwi driver will join the Austrian team as Perez's replacement for the 2025 season after only doing eleven races from his two short stints in 2023 and 2024 with RB.

Lawson faced the ire of the fans when he replaced fan favorite Ricciardo in the Racing Bulls team after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. He further angered the Mexican fanbase as he fought Perez on and off the track to put himself as a possible option at Red Bull for 2025.

While speaking about the abuse on social media in his interview with The Times, Lawson said:

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

The Milton-Keynes outfit has put a lot of faith in the 22-year-old as Sergio Perez's replacement and is banking on his upward trajectory and room for growth during his first full season at the pinnacle of motorsport.

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Red Bull team boss sheds light on Sergio Perez's future with it

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said he believed that Sergio Perez needed to take a step back from the grind of racing at the pinnacle of motorsport while justifying the decision to drop the Mexican. Speaking to TalkSport, the Briton shared that Perez would still be involved with the team and said:

"It was right for both of us just to step back for Sergio Perez to step out of the car and take a bit of time with his family and work out what he wants to do. He's still going to be involved with the team, he'll be doing a couple of show runs with us during next year.

It was right for him because it wasn't enjoyable for him either, getting all this scrutiny and pressure and expectation every weekend. By his own admission, he was 280 points behind his teammate this year, we lost the constructors championship by just over 70 points."

Perez was reportedly offered an ambassadorial role with the energy drink brand after his four-year association with the Austrian team ended after the 2024 season. However, whether the upcoming show runs would be part of that role or a parting gift is unclear.