Daniel Ricciardo reacts to ‘wild’ F1 career after being dropped by RB

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Daniel Ricciardo has been dropped by RB for the rest of the 2024 season, likely signalling the end of the Australian’s 14-year career in Formula One.

The 35-year-old finished 18th in his final race in Singapore on Sunday, setting the fastest lap of the race with the prospect of being axed looming large over the weekend in the city-state.

Ricciardo has struggled for consistent performance since returning to F1 last summer and, as a result, RB have decided to put New Zealand youngster Liam Lawson in the cockpit for the remaining six races of the season. Lawson’s promotion was confirmed on Thursday evening.

Lawson, who impressed filling in for an injured Ricciardo for five races last year, will be Yuki Tsunoda’s team-mate at the next race – the United States Grand Prix in Austin – on 20 October.

Ricciardo said in a short post on Instagram: “I’ve loved this sport my whole life. It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey.

“To the teams and individuals that have played their part, thank you. To the fans who love the sport sometimes more than me haha (sic) thank you.

“It’ll always have its highs and lows but it’s been fun and truth be told I wouldn’t change it. Until the next adventure.”

Eight-time grand prix winner Ricciardo was axed by McLaren at the end of the 2022 season but was handed a second chance at Red Bull’s sister team midway through last year, replacing Nyck de Vries.

However, he trails team-mate Yuki Tsunoda by 10 points in the championship standings and has not reached the heights of yesteryear, when he won seven races with Red Bull before leaving in 2018.

“I do feel, let’s say, at peace with it,” Ricciardo said after the race in Singapore. “At some point, it’ll come for all of us.

“I tried to get back into Red Bull, it didn’t work out, so then I also have to say, ‘Okay, what else am I ultimately doing here and trying to achieve?’... Let’s say maybe the fairytale ending didn’t happen, but I also have to look back on what it’s been.

“Fourteen or so years and I’m proud. I think when you’ve experienced the highs of winning, you can only fight for P10 for so long. There is nothing like that feeling, and if that no longer is possible, and if it is becoming a little harder – that’s the truth.

“I was able to do some moments of maybe greatness this year, but it was trickier to do it week in, week out.

“Maybe that’s [being] 35, maybe that’s the competition’s getting better and better. Who knows?”

RB team principal Laurent Mekies said in a statement on Thursday afternoon: “Everyone here would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us.

“He has brought a lot of experience and talent to the Team with a fantastic attitude, which has helped everyone to develop and foster a tight team spirit. Daniel has been a true gentleman both on and off the track and never without that smile.

“He will be missed, but will always hold a special place within the Red Bull family.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome Liam. He already knows the Team well. He drove for us last season, and coped well under difficult circumstances, so it’ll be a natural transition. It’s great to see young talent from within the Red Bull family make the next step.

“We’re looking forward to getting our heads down and focusing on the rest of the season together.”

Lawson, 22, made his debut in Zandvoort last year after Ricciardo broke his hand in a crash. The New Zealander, who has been on Red Bull’s books since 2019, finished ninth in Singapore last year and will now have a run of races to prove his worth to the team.