Liam Lawson's phone has been going crazy since making his F1 debut.
He told 1News he's barely had time to talk to anyone and reply to messages of congratulations from many motorsport greats around the world.
But while arriving at his apartment in the UK, he had one call he wouldn't miss — that from Red Bull Boss Helmut Marko.
"He spoke about the race and different scenarios, and then he basically said I'd be driving in Monza, and we need to now prepare for that," Lawson said.
A full week of preparation is more than what he had at the Dutch Grand Prix. AlphaTauri's Daniel Ricciardo injured his hand in Free Practice session 2, which meant Lawson was given the call-up to replace Ricciardo. The Pride of Pukekohe has been trying to get up to speed ever since.
"Super excited I get to drive again, so I will spend tomorrow in the simulator and basically do a lot more preparation for this weekend than what we did for the last.
"It's going to be a huge task still, a lot to learn, but I'm excited to have another shot."
In a statement, AlphaTauri confirmed the 21-year-old will continue to stand in for Ricciardo until he is well again — meaning he will be on the grid for the Italian GP at Monza.
"We are delighted that Daniel's surgery went well and that he is now on the road to recovery," a spokesperson said.
"We hope to see him at the track again very soon, but until he is fully fit, we can confirm that Liam, who did a good job in difficult circumstances in Zandvoort, will continue to drive alongside Yuki, starting from our home race this weekend in Monza."
It comes after Lawson impressed Red Bull bosses with his ability to learn quickly and adapt in testing conditions, starting at the back of the grid and moving up to 13th place.
"That was the most challenging two days I have ever gone through as a racing driver.
"I hadn't driven in the dry in this car and, obviously, this track because we did qualification in the rain, and I had only just got my head around that, and then it dried up for the race — I spent most of the race getting my head around it," Lawson said.
"The thing is, with this race and my first grand prix, I went through every single situation and had every experience possible. I had seven pitstops, I drove on intermediates, I drove on two different compounds of dry tyres, and we had safety car restarts and wheel racing.
"We experienced everything in one race!"
"For a first grand prix, it is tough, but it's good to have all of that to absorb and use to go forward," he said.
Lawson also only had days to prepare and didn't have a spare helmet.
Liam Lawson will race for AlphaTauri at Monza with Daniel Ricciardo still injured. (Source: 1News)
"We had to improvise and basically get someone to break into my apartment to grab the helmet and get it, and get it with my trainer who flew out on Saturday to the track. In the end, we used both helmets, so I did need it."
Lawson has become the 10th New Zealand driver to race in Formula 1. He said growing up he would tell drivers in the Kiwi motorsport industry he wanted to one day be an F1 driver, but they would tell him "that is impossible".
"It hasn't sunk in yet — it's a big accomplishment for me, but it's also positive to show kids you can do it."
"If you ask kids in Go Karting what they want to do, 'they say they want to do this because Formula 1 is impossible,' and I say, 'you can't say that you're only 8 years old. You can dream about anything!'
"I'm not there yet. This is just a temporary thing right now, but to be able to do a race and show it is possible, show kids you can do what you want."
Lawson will be racing again on September 4 at 1am.
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