Formula One racer Daniel Ricciardo was released by Red Bull Racing on Thursday, and it was announced that Liam Lawson will immediately slip into the driver’s seat, replacing him on the team.
It was pretty apparent that the 35-year-old’s days with the circuit were nearing their end — at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, he was called into the pits by his RB team ahead of the final lap, giving the Australian an opportunity to set the fastest lap of the race.
At the race’s conclusion, he sat in his car for an unusual amount of time before walking through a gauntlet of supporters who lined up to applaud him. His post-race interviews were emotional, acknowledging he may have concluded his final race.
Red Bull, owner of the RB team, made the news official Thursday, announcing the 22-year-old Lawson will step in for Ricciardo for the U.S. Grand Prix and onward.
Lawson joined the Red Bull driver program five years ago and raced five times last year, covering for Ricciardo after he broke his hand during a practice.
“I’ve loved this sport my whole life. It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey,” Ricciardo wrote in a farewell post on Instagram. “To the teams and individuals that have played their part, thank you. To the fans who love the sport sometimes more than me haha 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.”
Teammates, former teams and rivals all flooded the comments on his Instagram post with well-wishes.
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Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton simply put: “Legend.”
Hamilton’s current Mercedes teammate George Russell added: “Going to miss you mate.”
Mercedes’ Silver Arrows team chimed in, too, thanking Ricciardo for his upbeat energy and the challenge he brought to races.
“You’ve been an incredible competitor over the years,” the team wrote.
“Thanks for the many fun battles and the infectious energy you brought to our sport both on and off track. Enchanté Daniel.”
Ricciardo’s final Red Bull teammate and friend Max Verstappen replied: “Head up mate! Many more beautiful moments to come.”
“Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us,” RB team principal Laurent Mekies wrote in a statement. “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.”
Fans, however, were baffled and frustrated that Red Bull would drop Ricciardo, who is widely considered one of the nicest and most humble F1 drivers, so unceremoniously.
“Not giving Daniel Ricciardo a proper goodbye is utterly mystifying,” one fan commented on X.
“The whole situation has been dealt with disgracefully. Deserved a proper final race, deserved to be able to speak about it openly so he could fully thank his fans. Absolute joke,” another shared.
“Shame. You should have given him a proper goodbye at the last race, or announce he’s out for next year but keep him until end of 2024. Don’t get the rush with Lawson right now but there you go,” another agreed.
Ricciardo won eight races over 14 seasons, with his final victory coming at Monza in 2021 when he won driving for McLaren. He was bought out of his McLaren deal after the 2022 season, and he was hired to return to Red Bull as a team ambassador.
That led to seven races in 2023 with Red Bull’s sister team. Ricciardo was given the seat full-time for 2024 but through 18 races he’s only finished inside the points three times.
His best finish in the championship was third in 2014 and 2016 — both years when Mercedes dominated the season and Ricciardo, then at Red Bull, was effectively best of the rest.
Verstappen’s arrival at Red Bull partway through the 2016 season gradually saw Ricciardo move into a supporting role. His career stalled after a move to Renault in 2019, and after switching to McLaren in 2021, he was largely outclassed by Norris.
Ricciardo made a lasting impact on F1 as one of the faces of the sport’s boom in the United States driven by Netflix’s Drive To Survive series. But he has shown no interest in moving to American motorsports, and said at Singapore last weekend that racing IndyCar on ovals “scared” him.
He doesn’t know what’s next.
“When I got into F1, everyone knew me as the happy guy and the nice guy, but I do have a killer instinct,” he said in the first episode filmed during the 2018 season. “I do believe I can be world champion and for me it’s like, ‘Why else would I be doing this?’”
Lawson joins Yuki Tsunoda at RB to finish out the season.
“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,” Mekies said. “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.”
— With files from The Associated Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
