“Now it finally does sort of feel real,” the 22-year-old commented. “Obviously I knew about it for the last sort of… the last, probably, two weeks. But until it’s out there to the world, it obviously doesn’t ever really feel set in stone, and I couldn’t tell anybody.”
Pushed on what happened in the background, Lawson continued: “It had been the plan for a long time now. This was sort of where it was leading, at least.
READ MORE: Ricciardo reacts to RB departure as he reflects on ‘wild and wonderful’ F1 adventure
“I had a contract date that needed to be sort of fulfilled. Basically, it was going towards this way and then, a couple of weeks ago, they told me this was what was going to happen. Not long after that, it was basically set in stone.”
Lawson joked that he has “not really” celebrated the news of his promotion yet, with relief being the overriding feeling amongst family members and friends, as well as an awareness of the challenge that lies ahead.
“Obviously I’m very happy, but it’s six rounds left in the season, so I’m coming in at a difficult time,” he said. “It’s going to be a very challenging point. All these [drivers] have done three quarters of a season now, so I have to try and compete with that – at tracks that I haven’t done [driven at] as well.