Formula One favourite and West Australian speed demon Daniel Ricciardo has reached the end of the road, his career all but over after being axed for the second time in three seasons.
The Aussie veteran has faced increasing pressure as his team struggled to score points, and it came to a head as Red Bull and sister team VCARB RB used another four-week break ahead of the American Grand Prix to settle its driver line-ups for the last six events.
RB gave Ricciardo his official marching orders on Thursday, confirming 22-year-old Kiwi Liam Lawson would take over his seat for the remainder of the season.
“Everyone here at VCARB would like to thank Daniel for his hard work across the last two seasons with us,” RB boss Laurent Mekies said 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.
“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.”
The West Australian took to Instagram after the news was made public.
“I’ve loved this sport my whole life. It’s wild and wonderful and been a journey,” he wrote.
“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.”
Ricciardo was visibly emotional after a disappointing run in Singapore, where another strategy failure from his crew saw the Aussie finish 18th of 18 drivers to finish the gruelling race won by former McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
He was able to show a flash of the brilliance that has earned him eight Grand Prix triumphs, stealing a vital point off Norris by recording the fastest lap of the race in the dying stages.
Coming into the weekend, there were strong reports Lawson, who filled in for Ricciardo last season after the Aussie broke his wrist in a crash in the Netherlands, would take over the second RB seat due to a contract clause that is believed to be along the lines of if he hadn’t been given a seat within the Red Bull family by the end of this month, he would be able to seek one elsewhere.
Fans showed their love for the Aussie star by voting him the driver of the day in Singapore, and Ricciardo said post-race he was “at peace” if he’d raced a Formula One car for the final time.
“I do feel at peace with it,” he said.
“At some point it will come for all of us. I tried to get back into Red Bull. It didn’t work out. I also have to say, what else am I ultimately doing here and trying to achieve?
“I think when you experience the highs of winning you can only fight for P10 for so long. There is nothing like that feeling and if that is no longer possible and if it’s becoming a little harder… I think 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 35, maybe that’s the competition getting better and better, who knows.”
He has been left without a farewell race.
At the start of his first full season back in the driver’s seat after being cast aside by McLaren for rising Australian star Oscar Piastri, Ricciardo decared he wanted to fight to earn his original seat at World Champions Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen back.
However, the season could hardly have gone much worse for the fan-favourite.
Ricciardo failed to score a point in the first five rounds, and failed to finish twice.
The flames of hope were fanned at the Miami Grand Prix, the Aussie overtake king starting and finishing in fourth for the Sprint Race to score five points.
His pace fell away dramatically in the Grand Prix as he finished in 15th.
He found consistency in mid-season to take his points tally to equal 13th in the Driver’s Championship on 12, but RB was once again left behind by the top half of the field.
He has also been out-qualified 12-6 by teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
While Ricciardo’s time in Formula One appears done, several other racing categories may be interested in the 35-year-old’s services, including the V8 Supercars in Australia, which have expressed interest in the Duncraig dasher who has said he’d like to race around Mount Panorama.
