Ricciardo broke a metacarpal in his left hand during a practice crash at Zandvoort, which paved the way for 21-year-old Kiwi racer Lawson to make his F1 debut in the Netherlands.
The Super Formula points runner-up has impressed during four cameo appearances, with his rapid adaption capped by scoring two points for finishing ninth in the Singapore GP.
With Lawson taking a backseat next season by occupying a reserve driver role for Red Bull - AlphaTauri having re-signed Yuki Tsunoda and Ricciardo for 2024 - he will make what is expected to be his final substitute appearance in Qatar, which is a sprint race event, this weekend.
But he only found out he would be racing on Monday after picking up a “random” video call, which turned out to be from eight-time GP winner Ricciardo.
“I was sitting at lunch and I had a random number call me and it was a FaceTime," said Lawson.
“I was really confused because people don’t just FaceTime randomly, so I answered it and it was just Daniel’s face!
“He basically said that he thought he’d let me have another weekend. Obviously good to be back, good to be in the car this weekend. I’m excited.”
Source: Autosport