“These two races could be two of the most important of not only my season but potentially my career.”
Speaking at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo knew his time in Formula One was at an inflection point.
Ahead of Red Bull’s summer break review of the lineups across its two teams, Red Bull Racing and RB, and with Sergio Pérez underperforming at the senior squad, Ricciardo sensed an opportunity.
Two good races and he’d have a real case to return to Red Bull, the team he left at the end of 2018. He’d spent the past 12 months since getting back on the grid trying to show signs of the form from his grand-prix-winning heyday, bidding to prove he was ready to get back to the front of the F1 pack where he could fight for wins and podiums again.
Two months later, Ricciardo’s F1 career appears to be over. Red Bull announced on Thursday that he would be replaced at RB by Liam Lawson as of the United States Grand Prix. The team bid farewell to Ricciardo via its social media channels.
It’s an abrupt end to one of the biggest stories in F1 over the past 18 months. One that had many different endings, all of which looked possible at points throughout this year.
But two years after dropping off the grid for the first time when he lost his seat with McLaren and wondering whether he’d even want to get back to F1, Ricciardo is now left to digest that, after 257 races, 32 podiums, and eight wins, this is probably the end.
The safety net for Red Bull
In 2022, after his difficult two-year spell at McLaren, Ricciardo was genuinely unsure if he wanted to race again in F1.
He’d agreed to a deal to return to Red Bull, the team where he enjoyed the height of his F1 success between 2014 and 2018, as a “third driver” that would include some tests and car demonstration appearances. But that winter, he didn’t actively think about working to a proper return. He let the hunger sneak back up on him.
By the Australian Grand Prix in March, Ricciardo knew he wanted to get back on the grid. As Nyck de Vries’ struggles with AlphaTauri (now RB) deepened, he quickly emerged as the driver who would take over, with an outstanding test for Red Bull clinching the deal as of the next race in Hungary.
Ricciardo quickly went on record to say his overall goal was to return to Red Bull, which he’d left at the end of 2018 to join Renault. If Red Bull cut ties with Pérez, whose form faltered through the second half of the season, its sister team would offer the perfect opportunity to make his case.
Missing five races after breaking his hand in a practice crash at Zandvoort didn’t help Ricciardo to settle, with Lawson taking over for that stretch. But in Mexico, Pérez’s home race, he put in a stunning performance to qualify fourth and finish seventh in a car with no right to be so far up the grid. While already confirmed at Red Bull for 2024, Pérez’s first-corner crash at the same race only added to the narrative that Ricciardo was closer to the return he so wanted.
Ricciardo was always intended to be Red Bull’s safety net. If Pérez’s late-2023 struggles carried into the new season, there’d be a fast, known quantity ready to step up and replace him.
Except the early part of 2024 did nothing to help Ricciardo’s case.
Early-season doubts lead to summer optimism
RB entered 2024 with an added spring in its step. The team had been rebranded from AlphaTauri to “Visa Cash App RB,” with Ricciardo’s commercial appeal undoubtedly helping it secure two major U.S. brands as title sponsors. The team also planned closer technical collaboration with Red Bull to step up from a disappointing 2023 campaign.
But it didn’t take long for doubt to creep in about Ricciardo’s form. By Miami, Ricciardo was 1-4 in his qualifying head-to-head with Yuki Tsunoda and had zero points, while Tsunoda had finished seventh in Melbourne. In the same period, Pérez had finished on the podium four times in five races, making any idea of Ricciardo taking his Red Bull seat seem a long, long way off.
Ricciardo had asked RB for a chassis change, just to allay any concerns there was something fundamentally wrong with his car and give him greater confidence. The team agreed to make the change. P4 in Miami sprint qualifying and the Miami sprint race, fending off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in the closing stages, went down as a Mexico-style “old Ricciardo” performance — only for him to be eliminated in Q1 a few hours later.
Ricciardo’s form remained patchy through the summer races, the high being eighth place through the late chaos in Canada. But it was nowhere near as concerning to Red Bull as Pérez’s slump at the top team, which showed no signs of arrest. At this point, Max Verstappen continued to win races and fight at the front, meaning the deeper issues with the RB20 that are now coming to light remained unclear. Pérez’s form was, to quote Red Bull team principal Christian Horner after he failed to score any points at Silverstone, “unsustainable.”
It led to the re-emerging possibility of Ricciardo getting back in the Red Bull again. He knew he faced the two most important races of his career. A review was planned for after the Belgian Grand Prix where Red Bull would evaluate the lineups across both its teams, factoring in Pérez’s struggles, Ricciardo’s own hot-and-cold form, and the need to try and find somewhere for Lawson by fall, or risk losing him from its setup. Given his experience, Ricciardo had a strong case to take Pérez’s seat if Red Bull opted to make a change. He and Lawson were scheduled to take part in a filming day for RB in the first week of the summer break, giving Red Bull the chance to compare their pace in equal machinery if required, even if Horner downplayed it as just a filming day.
Except there was no change. One day after Pérez went from P2 on the grid to P7 at the checkered flag, Horner told Red Bull staff that Pérez would be staying put, meaning Ricciardo would be as well. The next review period was planned for the gap between Singapore and Austin, in another four races’ time, giving all parties involved the chance to stake their claim for the available seats.
And by that review point, the writing was already on the wall for Ricciardo.
Why Red Bull acted now
Upon returning from his summer break, Ricciardo said he was retaining his mindset of treating the races as being the most important of his F1 career. He knew the nuances of the situation and how quickly things could move.
“When there is a bit more on the line, when that pressure is a little bit higher, in a way, it kind of increases that spark in me and stops me from maybe feeling a little bit relaxed,” Ricciardo said a few weeks ago at Monza.
Red Bull’s motorsport adviser, Helmut Marko, has always sought to apply that pressure to the drivers he oversees, believing it to be the best source of motivation. History has shown that Red Bull has zero qualms about making ruthless driver decisions midseason. Max Verstappen replaced Daniil Kvyat four races into the 2016 season. Pierre Gasly was dropped after 12 races to make way for Alex Albon in 2019, who lasted only one-and-a-half seasons before being replaced by Pérez.
Time is not a currency that underperforming Red Bull drivers can rely upon.
Marko is also the most prominent advocate for Lawson. In the weeks after the summer break, Marko kept alluding to news coming after Singapore, which coincided with the date in Lawson’s contract by which he needed assurances from Red Bull over an F1 seat or he’d be free to leave its program. While Marko was clear about wanting Lawson on the grid, Horner always seemed inclined to keep giving Ricciardo more time.
With Tsunoda already locked in for 2025 as of Canada, and the heat turning down on Pérez as Verstappen’s struggles showed there was something wrong with Red Bull’s car development direction, it caused the walls to close on Ricciardo. Three Q1 exits in four races from Zandvoort to Singapore didn’t help his case, nor did only once outqualifying Tsunoda in that spell. The form simply was not good enough.
In an interview with German outlet Motorsport-Total following Thursday’s announcement, Marko said that Ricciardo had been informed of the decision to drop him before the Singapore weekend. This was contrary to the public comments made by the Australian in the paddock on Thursday. While there was no official announcement that would have offered complete closure to the situation, Ricciardo’s emotion and body language made clear by the end of the weekend he knew what was about to happen.
Lawson has also revealed that he was aware of the plan to replace Ricciardo for the past two weeks. “But until it’s out there to the world, it obviously doesn’t really feel set in stone and I couldn’t tell anybody,” he told Newstalk ZB. “It had been the plan for a long time now, that this is where it was leading at least.”
Red Bull will hope that it provides a short-term boost for RB, which is under pressure in the constructors’ championship. Its lead over Haas for P6 has dwindled to three points, and with each position worth in the region of $10-15 million in prize money, hanging on to that place is a big deal for the smaller teams.
However, it also gives Red Bull a chance to assess Lawson fully as it outlines its driver plans for 2025 and beyond across its teams. The announcement only confirmed he would drive for RB through the remainder of the year.
“I’ve got until the end of the season, and then we’ll find out more as the season goes on, basically,” Lawson said in the Newstalk ZB interview.
The end for Ricciardo in F1
What makes Ricciardo’s departure different from his 2022 exit from McLaren is that he is probably done with racing in F1 for good this time. There’ll be no time away to see if the hunger naturally returns, nor is there likely to be a reserve driver role to keep some kind of connection to the paddock.
This is it.
The word retirement has not been used, but the sentiment was clear from Ricciardo’s post on Instagram. “I’ve loved this sport my whole life,” he wrote. “It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey.”
Ricciardo won’t end his F1 career with any ill feelings toward the sport. On Thursday in Singapore, he spoke about falling back in love with F1 since returning. As frustrating as this season has been at points, he’s enjoyed the competitive side. But he admitted it hadn’t quite fulfilled what he wanted in his comeback: getting back to the very top.
“I still have a lot of love for the sport, but I also have to remind myself, OK, why did I come back? It was to try and be at the front again,” Ricciardo said.
“I enjoy it. But when you’re not in the points, for sure it’s less enjoyable. I’m also 35. I’ve been at the front, I’ve experienced the champagne. I don’t want to hang onto something that might not ever come to fruition again. I’ve certainly had those conversations in my head.
“I wouldn’t say that I would jump at any opportunity next year, that’s not the case. I’d probably say, ‘Peace.’”
Ricciardo’s career is one most drivers would give anything to enjoy. He’s earned the respect and, perhaps even rarer, the friendship of his rivals. To boast eight victories, all of which were scored without ever racing for the dominant team of that period, is something he can be proud of. He’ll go down as one of the defining drivers of this era of F1.
There’s no fear for Ricciardo about what life outside of F1 may look like. He could likely find a way to scratch his racing itch should he desire. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has previously said Ricciardo would be welcome to try a NASCAR race for his team some time, his father being Ricciardo’s racing hero. But he won’t turn up in IndyCar, which Ricciardo said “still scares me.”
Ricciardo’s next steps won’t be reliant on racing. He has a very full and vibrant life, his popularity transcending the usual confines of the sport. Only Lewis Hamilton has the same level of appeal that allows him to grace couches with Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert as easily as Ricciardo has in recent years. He’ll retain that appeal while also being able to explore more of what post-F1 life looks like.
“I’ve fortunately made friends with other athletes over the years that have been in a similar position — what does Phase Two of life look like,” Ricciardo said in Singapore. “I think there’s a lot to do, a lot of opportunities.
“It’s not anything I’m scared of.”
(Top photo: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)
